| dc.description.abstract | This document explores Hopekirk’s compositions for solo piano, presenting a brief overview of Hopekirk’s solo piano music and a detailed analysis of four selected works from her output. Chapter 1 outlines the purpose, need, procedures, and limitations of the study and presents a review of related literature. Chapter 2 provides a biographical sketch and explores Hopekirk’s significance as a composer in the context of her American contemporaries, particularly the Second New England School of composers. Chapter 3 investigates Hopekirk’s contributions to the rise of the American female composer and offers a thorough review of her compositional output and style. It also surveys Hopekirk’s complete body of solo piano music. Chapters 4 through 7 offer analyses of four selected piano works by Hopekirk: Iona Memories, Suite for Piano, Five Scottish Folk-Songs, and Two Tone Pictures. For each work, these analyses provide historical background, explore salient compositional features, and offer practical teaching and performance suggestions. Chapter 8 provides a brief conclusion and recommendations for further research. By exploring Helen Hopekirk’s piano music, this study recognizes the work of a noteworthy American female composer-pianist and serves as a resource for teachers and performers interested in Hopekirk’s music.
Helen Hopekirk (1856-1945) was a distinguished Scottish-American pianist, composer, and pedagogue in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Over the six decades of her professional career, Hopekirk concertized widely in Europe and the United States, performing in prestigious venues such as Steinway Hall in New York, the Crystal Palace in London, and Salle Pleyel in Paris. Also a dedicated teacher, Hopekirk joined the piano faculty at the New England Conservatory in Boston in 1897, where she taught for four years before transitioning to private teaching in Boston. In addition to her performing and teaching, Hopekirk devoted significant attention to composition and produced a substantial body of work in both large- and small-scale genres. Hopekirk is now counted among the first generation of professional American female composers. | en_US |
