Brower Grover Ackley. Sketches op. 6 for piano

New York: Carl Fischer, 1920. — 10 p.The US composer Grover Ackley Brower (1884-?) seems to be remembered more for his translations of music theoretical works by Taneyev than for his own works, which include a symphony, a string quartet and a piano sonata. Brower studied at the Institute of Musical Art (now the Julliard School) and later in Toronto. He seems to have had an academic career, including spells as director of music at Susquehanna University (1914-16) and, later, at the Birmingham Conservatory (Alabama). An ex-student has recalled to me that he was a heavy smoker and died of suffocation from a fire brought about by smoking in bed. Although he was a keen contrapuntalist, and wrote a treatise on Counterpoint, thiis reflective set of pieces (completed in New York in April 1920) is freely constructed and hints at British and Russian late romantic styles, with a hint of MacDowell near the start of the second piece.
difficulty, intended for student of music universities