Augusta Browne

This book was a delight to read. Bonny Miller offers a new window into nineteenth-century American life, especially the life of a gifted and accomplished female musician. * editor of The Music of the Moravian Church in America * Drawing on an extensive body of contemporaneous documents and Browne's creative works, Miller (pianist and independent scholar) develops a detailed portrait of Augusta Browne (Garrett) (c. 1820-82) as a performer, a composer, an entrepreneur, a writer, and a Christian humanist. The book provides a rich social history of the 19th-century music marketplace. . . . Extensive appendixes include an integrated chronology of compositions and prose and a detailed catalog of musical works (both digital and archival). Recommended. -- J. M. Edwards * CHOICE * Browne's multi-faceted career, which included composition, music publishing, teaching, and essays for journals and magazines, was indeed an extraordinary accomplishment. A superb piece of musicological scholarship. Every chapter reveals methodological mastery, nuanced analysis, engaging writing, and contagious enthusiasm. The work makes a significant contribution not only for its examination of a creative nineteenth-century woman but also for what it tells us about the musical culture of that time in America. -- Laura Pita * IAWM NEWSLETTER * Astute observations and analyses of Browne's piano compositions and performances. Miller provides a road map for future scholars in a digitally expansive age on how to unpack histories lying just a little deeper within the pages of periodicals and other newly digitized sources to herald less-researched musical women. This biography is an inspiration and should be included in any graduate-level research methods class for future scholars to learn from Miller's methodologies. * NOTES, QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF THE MUSIC LIBRARY ASSOCIATION * Engagingly written [and] richly contextualized. Deftly sets up the forces in Browne's life...that allowed her talents to come to fruition...[The musical] analyses are particularly insightful. * Journal of Musicological Research *

BONNY H. MILLER is a pianist and independent scholar who has taught at universities in Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, and Virginia. To learn more about her work, please visit https://bonnymillermusic.com/

Introduction First Steps Apprentice in a Family Music Business Philadelphia Debut A Young Professor of Music A New Leaf Her Own Woman Courtship and Consequences Pilgrim in Progress "Glad Fruition" Legacy in Music Legacy in Literature Contributions to Music Journalism A Legacy Written into History Appendix 1: Children and Descendants of David Samuel Browne and Elizabeth Montgomery Browne Appendix 2: Chronology of Augusta Browne's Music and Letters