Vida Chenoweth
Encyclopedia
Vida Chenoweth was the first professional solo classical marimbist. Also a noted ethnomusicologist and linguist, she was inducted into The Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1985 for her contributions to those three fields.
Chenoweth made her solo debut in Chicago in 1956, followed by a successful recital in New York. She subsequently gave concerts all over the world. She is credited with being the first to perform polyphonic music on the marimba
and with bringing it to public acceptance as a serious concert instrument, doing for the marimba what Pablo Casals
did for the cello and Andrés Segovia
did for the guitar. She is the only concert marimbist who has appeared as guest soloist in Carnegie Hall with a major orchestra.
Chenoweth
is a Cornish
name.
, and in 1961, she played Paul Creston
's Concertino for Marimba, both with the Orchestra of America conducted by Richard Korn. By 1962 all but four works in the marimba repertoire had been composed for her.
She went to the Territory of New Guinea
and served for thirteen years with Wycliffe Bible Translators
as a linguist and Bible translator. There, with colleague Darlene Bee, she lived with the Usarufa tribe and learned their unwritten language. After Dr. Bee’s death, she completed a translation of the New Testament in Usarufa. Meanwhile, she studied the music of the Usarufas and many other tribes and became internationally known as a scholar who pioneered a new method of ethnic music analysis. She authored eleven books, including her textbooks Melodic Perception and Analysis and The Usarufas and Their Music, and numerous articles on the validity of oral music traditions throughout the world. She then developed a program in ethnomusicology for the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music
based on her own theory of analyzing the music of unwritten music traditions. She has since retired as International Consultant for Wycliffe and as Professor of Ethnomusicology at Wheaton College and has archived her nearly 1000 field tapes of world music in the Library of Congress.
Chenoweth also studied composition and wrote several pieces for marimba. While in high school in 1948, she spent part of a summer studying marimba with Clair Omar Musser
at Northwestern University. She then attended William Woods College in Missouri, transferring to Northwestern for her final two years of study and emerged with a double degree in music criticism and marimba performance. For graduate school, Chenoweth attended the American Conservatory in Chicago (1952–1953), where she studied pedagogy of music theory, and canon and fugue with Stella Roberts, a pupil of Nadia Boulanger
, and earned a double degree in music theory and percussion. In 1974 she earned a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology at the University of Auckland
, New Zealand. She is included in seven different Who’s Who lists and is named as one of the two thousand outstanding musicians of the twentieth century.
“No one plays the marimba, or any other instrument, for that matter, better or more beautifully than Miss Chenoweth.” R. Kammerer, Musical America May 1961
“Without exaggeration, it can be said that Miss Chenoweth is to the marimba what Segovia is to the guitar and Casals to the cello.” Musical America March 1961
(Zabaleta Harp recital at Town Hall): “Comparable artistry on a so-called ‘off-beat’ instrument is not to be found today except, perhaps, in Andres Segovia on the guitar, and Vida Chenoweth on the marimba.” Ronald Eyer, New York Herald Tribune 1962
“Three cheers for Vida Chenoweth! In elevating the marimba to concert level, she has achieved distinction for herself. Those who turned out for her Town Hall recital last night marveled at her musical artistry as well as her technical mastery. This young woman is a real musician… most memorable in this recital was the fugue of the Bach sonata which closed the program. It called for uncanny skill.” Miles Kastendieck, New York Journal-American 1962
“…under the hands of a supreme mistress like Vida Chenoweth, the marimba becomes a different instrument, and one must throw away the labels and take another look.” Ronald Eyer, New York Herald Tribune 1962
“She is easily the Myra Hess of the marimba.” Louis Biancolli, New York Telegram and Sun 1967
“All who have heard her and know what great unique art is, agree that Vida Chenoweth is entitled to be looked upon as a sensational artist in our world of music.” Rudolph Ganz
1959.
New York Times: “She is an expert virtuoso, no false notes were detected, her rhythm superb, her confidence EPOCHAL.” -Harold C. Schonberg
New York World Telegram and Sun: “…every inch an artist…” – Louis Biancolli
New York Herald Tribune: “ Comparable artistry… is not to be found today except, perhaps, in Andres Segovia on the guitar, and Vida Chenoweth on the marimba.” -Ronald Eyer
Music America: “Miss Chenoweth is to the marimba what Segovia is to the guitar and Casals is to the cello.” - Rafael Kammerer
New York Herald Tribune: “…a STAR PERFORMANCE and a bewitching one – no question of that.” – Jay S. Harison
Chicago Daily News: “…everything she touches turns to music.” – Don Henahan
Rudolph Ganz, President of Chicago Musical College, Concert Pianist and Composer and Educator: “All who have heard her and know what great unique art is agree that Miss Chenoweth is entitled to be looked upon as a sensational artist in our world of music.”
Time Magazine: “…the Orchestra of America founded two years ago to perform nothing but American music, presented the world premiere of Robert Kurka’s Concerto for Marimba. Last week’s performance conducted by Richard Korn, featured marimbist Vida Chenoweth as soloist…who proved herself a virtuoso…as for the piece itself, it proved once again that composer Robert Kurka had one of the most promising original talents in U.S. music.”
1961.-62
Musical America: “No one plays the marimba, or any other instrument, for that matter, better or more beautifully than Miss Chenoweth.” - R. Kammerer
Carnegie Hall Program Note 1961-62 Season: “Vida Chenoweth, first virtuoso of the ancient marimba, was discovered by Richard Korn and presented last season with the Orchestra of America to the delight and acclaim of critics and audience. Miss Chenoweth’s dazzling technique has opened fresh dimension in the realm of serious music for the instrument…”
New York Journal American (headline): “Three cheers for Vida Chenoweth! In elevating the marimba to concert level, she has achieved distinction for herself. Those who turned out for her Town Hall recital last night marveled at her musical artistry as well as her technical mastery.” - Miles Kastendieck
New York Times: “Vida Chenoweth is a remarkable and serious musician who has charge of an instrument that normally plays a very small part in our concert life, the marimba.” – Eric Salzman
Mederic Fitzpatrick, Artist Representative: “Of course each artist is, in some way, unique. Vida Chenoweth is a further rarity, she is the only classical marimbist. Her first album – for Epic Records – will be released in the fall of 1962.”
1962.
American Record Guide: “Vida Chenoweth Classic Marimbist” “Altogether, this release is a Must for all who delight in the unusual.” – Kammerer
New York World Telegram and Sun: “She is easily the Myra Hess of the marimba.” – Louis Biancolli
New York Herald Tribune (quote from harpist Nicanor Zabaleta recital): “ Comparable artistry on a so-called ‘off-beat’ instrument is not to be found today except, perhaps, in Andres Segovia on the guitar, and Vida Chenoweth on the marimba.” - Ronald Eyer
Music Journal: “VIDA CHENOWETH has accomplished an impressive elevation in the marimba’s status.”
Volksblatt: “…not only in South America but in the Brahms Hall in Vienna it is more than successful, if one has mastered the instrument so perfectly and with so much musicianship as this lady. There were bravura pieces and fabulous studies in sound. But there was Bach, too, and his E Major Praeludium has seldom been played so true to style.” – Professor Schmidek
De Standard Antwerp: Classical Marimba Recital in the Royal Conservatory Hall, Antwerp, Belgium “The audience, not large but choice, in the hall of the Royal Conservatory broke out spontaneously into wild applause. Vida Chenoweth is the name of the artist who I the first to succeed in treating this ancient instrument from out of the forest in a polyphonic manner and thus elevate it as a solo instrument in the concert hall…It is a graceful thing to see, but above all, it is an unusual musical experience. The striving for new colors and sounds is captivating when it is done with such fine artistic sense and the pieces are not adapted or ‘arranged’ but performed in their original musical scoring.” –H.D.
Le Soir Brussels: “Vida Chenoweth, a young musician, is a great virtuoso in her use of the marimba. She has acquired a rare and perfect technique on it. One is conquered and seduced by the sonorities – gentle, blurred, distant, ethereal…in that she obtains delicate rustlings and varieties of nuance which border on the prodigious. Vida Chenoweth played them with a freedom of flow, a brio and a musicianship that are marks of a great artist. Her success was frenzied…” – P.T.
Het Toneel Antwerp: “On this percussion instrument she succeeds in doing things that had hitherto been thought of as reserved for the piano. She played on it so perfectly that this recital of classical music will be hard to forget…The effects that she achieves are so noble and musically refined that everyone comes at once under her spell.” – L.C.
Neues Osterreich Vienna: At Brahmsaal “One is under the spell of remarkable musicianship. In sound, the exotic element fuses with the sensitive precision of the performance; the sensuous appeal of the instrument is not exploited carelessly or monotonously, but artistically, in order to serve the music.” – S.R.
Le Matin Antwerp: “Marimba Recital at Royal Conservatory Hall” “The artist rendered all those pages with infinite suppleness, color and musicianship. At the end she even appeared as a virtuoso…and here she was simply transcendent.” – Olivier
Antwerpse Gida Antwerp: “We went to the audition hall of the Flemish Music Conservatory with mixed feelings that evening – and left it enraptured. All in all, it was an amazing exhibition of ability and virtuosity; what this artist brought before us was serious, sound work, solidly musical in both composition and interpretation.” – W.M.
AVENIR BELGE Antwerp: “The Royal Flemish Music Conservatory Marimba Recital” “…the young American artist, Vida Chenoweth, gave a remarkable marimba recital. Remarkable for two reasons: the first, because the marimba …is little known here and second, because Vida Chenoweth presented it as a concert instrument with unexpected possibilities…All the numbers on her program were long applauded.” – E.D.
La Lanterne Brussels: “The performer’s virtuosity approaches sorcery.”
Le Peuple Brussels: “Vida Chenoweth developed the marimba as a solo instrument, an instrument of great brilliant virtuosity. By her calm virtuosity and delicate sensibility, Vida Chenoweth mad e a strong impression on an audience that was grateful for the revelation they had received.” – J.C.B.
La Derniere Heure Brussels: “Until one has heard Mlle. Chenoweth, one has no idea of the multiple resources of the magnificent Guatemalan instrument. She plays it in an absolutely classic manner and, if her virtuosity is astonishing, that would be nothing without the perfect style that accompanies it.” – M.P.
La Libre Belgique Brussels: “The opening concert at L’ Atelier was under the auspices of the Ambassador of Guatemala. Vida Chenoweth, who handles the instrument with absolute mastery…is an accomplished artist whose interpretive qualities match a surprising technique.” –S.V.E.
Le Guide du Concert Paris: Recital in Ecole Normale de Musique “It is incontestable that Vida Chenoweth plays the marimba with astonishing virtuosity and gives this instrument citizenship in the realm of classical music.” –Claude Chamfray
1969
The Manila Chronicle: “Audience curiosity and expectation were heightened by the full length marimba program recital which Vida Chenoweth gave…it proved to be genuinely pleasurable…Miss Chenoweth is an artist of formidable gifts.” - Rosalinda E. Orisa
1971
Masterton, New Zealand: “Completely at one with her instrument, she revealed the surprisingly diverse range of effects that the marimba is capable of, and played with superb artistry.” –J.C.Carter
New Zealand Herald: “…the tide turned with a rush. Vida Chenoweth produced a novelty right out of the common run when she played the Concerto for Marimba by Jorge Alvaro Sarmientos…there was much more than novelty to this. It was chock full of musical interest and astonishing performing virtuosity…uncanny skill…” – L.C.M. Saunders
1980
The New York Times: “Miss Chenoweth, once a ‘serious’ marimba virtuoso, gave up her career 15 years ago after a hand injury, turning to linguistics and ethnomusicology. But her control over the instrument is still formidable.” - Edward Rothstein
Chenoweth made her solo debut in Chicago in 1956, followed by a successful recital in New York. She subsequently gave concerts all over the world. She is credited with being the first to perform polyphonic music on the marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
and with bringing it to public acceptance as a serious concert instrument, doing for the marimba what Pablo Casals
Pablo Casals
Pau Casals i Defilló , known during his professional career as Pablo Casals, was a Spanish Catalan cellist and conductor. He is generally regarded as the pre-eminent cellist of the first half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest cellists of all time...
did for the cello and Andrés Segovia
Andrés Segovia
Andrés Torres Segovia, 1st Marquis of Salobreña , known as Andrés Segovia, was a virtuoso Spanish classical guitarist from Linares, Jaén, Andalucia, Spain...
did for the guitar. She is the only concert marimbist who has appeared as guest soloist in Carnegie Hall with a major orchestra.
Chenoweth
Chenoweth
Chenoweth is a name of Cornish origin meaning "new house" in the Cornish language, and usually pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable.-Variant spellings:...
is a Cornish
Cornish people
The Cornish are a people associated with Cornwall, a county and Duchy in the south-west of the United Kingdom that is seen in some respects as distinct from England, having more in common with the other Celtic parts of the United Kingdom such as Wales, as well as with other Celtic nations in Europe...
name.
Music career
Chenoweth made her solo debut in Chicago in 1956, followed by a successful recital in New York and numerous other concerts around the world. In 1959 she played the Concerto for Marimba composed for her by Robert KurkaRobert Kurka
Robert Frank Kurka was an American composer, who also taught and conducted his own works.Kurka was born in Cicero, Illinois. He was mostly self-taught, though he studied for short periods under Darius Milhaud and Otto Luening, receiving his M.A. degree from Columbia University in 1948...
, and in 1961, she played Paul Creston
Paul Creston
Paul Creston was an Italian American composer of classical music.Born in New York City to Sicilian immigrants, Creston was self‐taught as a composer. He was an honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity, initiated into the national honorary Alpha Alpha chapter...
's Concertino for Marimba, both with the Orchestra of America conducted by Richard Korn. By 1962 all but four works in the marimba repertoire had been composed for her.
Academic career
In 1961 she nearly lost the fingers of her right hand in a gas oven explosion which left her hand severely burned. Unable to regain complete freedom of movement, she turned her attention toward linguistics and ethnomusicology.She went to the Territory of New Guinea
Territory of New Guinea
The Territory of New Guinea was the Australia-controlled, League of Nations-mandated territory in the north eastern part of the island of New Guinea, and surrounding islands, between 1920 and 1949...
and served for thirteen years with Wycliffe Bible Translators
Wycliffe Bible Translators
Wycliffe Bible Translators is an interdenominational organization mandated to making a translation of the Bible in every living language in the world, especially for cultures with little existing Christian influence. Wycliffe was founded in 1942 by William Cameron Townsend and is associated with...
as a linguist and Bible translator. There, with colleague Darlene Bee, she lived with the Usarufa tribe and learned their unwritten language. After Dr. Bee’s death, she completed a translation of the New Testament in Usarufa. Meanwhile, she studied the music of the Usarufas and many other tribes and became internationally known as a scholar who pioneered a new method of ethnic music analysis. She authored eleven books, including her textbooks Melodic Perception and Analysis and The Usarufas and Their Music, and numerous articles on the validity of oral music traditions throughout the world. She then developed a program in ethnomusicology for the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music
Wheaton College Conservatory of Music
The Conservatory of Music at Wheaton College is a music conservatory located in Wheaton, Illinois. It is both a department and professional school of Wheaton College. It currently has 21 full-time faculty members and approximately 200 undergraduate music majors, and is fully accredited by the...
based on her own theory of analyzing the music of unwritten music traditions. She has since retired as International Consultant for Wycliffe and as Professor of Ethnomusicology at Wheaton College and has archived her nearly 1000 field tapes of world music in the Library of Congress.
Chenoweth also studied composition and wrote several pieces for marimba. While in high school in 1948, she spent part of a summer studying marimba with Clair Omar Musser
Clair Omar Musser
Clair Omar Musser was a marimba virtuoso, a conductor and promoter of marimba orchestras, a composer, a teacher, a designer of keyboard percussion instruments, an inventor, and an engineer for Hughes Aircraft.-Early career:...
at Northwestern University. She then attended William Woods College in Missouri, transferring to Northwestern for her final two years of study and emerged with a double degree in music criticism and marimba performance. For graduate school, Chenoweth attended the American Conservatory in Chicago (1952–1953), where she studied pedagogy of music theory, and canon and fugue with Stella Roberts, a pupil of Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...
, and earned a double degree in music theory and percussion. In 1974 she earned a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology at the University of Auckland
University of Auckland
The University of Auckland is a university located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest university in the country and the highest ranked in the 2011 QS World University Rankings, having been ranked worldwide...
, New Zealand. She is included in seven different Who’s Who lists and is named as one of the two thousand outstanding musicians of the twentieth century.
Books
- 1964. The Marimbas of Guatemala. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press.
- 1972. Melodic Perception and Analysis. Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
- 1974. Music of the Usarufas (2 vols.). PhD diss. University of Auckland.
- 1976. Musical Instruments of Papua New Guinea. Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
- 1979. [www.sil.org/acpub/repository/15498.pdf The Usarufas and Their Music]. Dallas: SIL Museum of Anthropology.
- 1980. Music for the Eastern Highlands, A Music Primer. Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
- 1984. A Music Primer for the North Solomons Province, Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea
- 1985. Rotokas Music Primer, Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea
- 2000. Sing-Sing: Communal Singing and Dancing of New Guinea Peoples. Christchurch: University of Canterbury Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies.
- 2001. Melodic Perception and Analysis Revised. Auckland: St. Albans Print 1979 Ltd.
- 2006. Melodic Perception and Analysis Revised. Lansdale, PA: Virginia Whitney.
- ———, trans. 1978, Information on the Marimba, English translation of Noticias sobre la Marimba, by David Vela. Auckland: Institute Press.
- Bee, Darlene, and ———, trans., with Imaaqo and Maaroni. 1980, The New Testament in Usarufa. South Holland, IL: Park Press.
Articles
- 1957. “The Marimba Comes into Its Own.” Music Journal (May-June).
- 1959. “Made in Guatemala.” American Record Guide (May).
- 1959. “The Marimba.” International Musician (November).
- 1961. “The Differences Among Xylophone, Marimba, Vibraphone.” The Instrumentalist (June), 68.
- 1962. “Pioneering the Marimba.” Music Journal (September).
- 1963. “The Language of Hymns.” Practical Anthropology 10 (6).
- 1963. “Defining the Marimba and the Xylophone Inter-Culturally.” Percussionist 1 (1).
- 1963. “Mallet Position with 2 Mallets.” Percussionist10 (2).
- 1963. “4-Mallet Technique.” Percussionist 10 (2).
- 1964. “The Marimba, A Challenge to Composers (Part 1).” The Ludwig Drummer 4 (1).
- 1964. “The Marimba, A Challenge to Composers (Part 2).” The Ludwig Drummer 4 (2).
- 1964. “Pioneering the Marimba.” Percussive Notes (December).
- 1966. “Correspondence Re Ethnic Hymnody.” The Bible Translator. 17 (2).
- 1966. “Song Structure of a New Guinea Highlands Tribe.” Ethnomusicology 10 (3):285–97.
- 1967. “The Voice of Music.” New Guinea Informant, April, Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea.
- 1968. “Managalasi Mourning Songs.” Ethnomusicology 12 (3):415–18.
- 1969. “An Investigation of the Singing Styles of the Dunas.” Oceania 39 (3):218–30.
- 1970. “Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs.” (Wycliffe Bible Translators) Translation 5 (3).
- 1971. “The Marimba and the Xylophone.” The School Musicican (February).
- 1971. “Let the New Guineans Sing.” Sharing, October, Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea.
- 1973. “Music of Papua New Guinea.” Grove’s Dictionary of Music. New York: St. Martin’s.
- 1977. “Musical Literacy.” READ: The Adult Literacy and Literature Magazine 12 (2–3).
- 1977. “Musical Literacy.” READ: The Adult Literacy and Literature Magazine 12 (4).
- 1978. “Musical Literacy.” READ: The Adult Literacy and Literature Magazine 13 (1): 38-39.
- 1979. “The Christian Musician’s Role within a Cultural Context.” (MS) monograph for Faith and Learning Seminar, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL.
- 1980. “Music of Papua New Guinea.” The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 14:88–96. London: Macmillan.
- 1980. “Descriptive Linguistics and the Ethnomusicologist.” Wheaton College Scholastic Honor Society Reports, 83. Wheaton, IL.
- 1981. Review of “Sound-producing Instruments in Traditional Society: A Study of Esoteric Instruments and their Role in Male-Female Relations.” 1981 Yearbook for Traditional MusicYearbook for Traditional MusicThe Yearbook for Traditional Music is a peer-reviewed academic journal on the subjects of music and dance research. It is published by the International Council for Traditional Music, once a year in December...
, 21–23. Port Moresby: Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies. - 1982. Review of “Ethnomusicology: Pacific Issue.” The Journal of the Polynesian Society, 91: 311–13.
- 1983. Review of Music of Oceania: Papua New Guinea: The Middle Sepik. Musicaphon disc no. BM 30 SL 2700, and Music of Oceania: Papua New Guinea: The Iatmul of Papua Niugini, Musicaphon disc no. BM 30 SL 2701, Institute for Musicology of the University of Basle. The Journal of the Polynesian Society 2:145–47.
- 1984. “Guidelines for Developing a Hymnody in the Indigenous Church.” (Summer Institute of Linguistics) Accent on Anthropology, March.
- 1984. Review of Bikmaus: A Quarterly Journal of Papua New Guinea Affairs, Ideas and Arts. (Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies)1984 Yearbook of Traditional Music, 132–33.
- 1984. “Spare Them Western Music!” Evangelical Missions Quarterly 20:30–35.
- 1985. “Music in Cross-Cultural Communication.” (Summer Institute of Linguistics) Notes on Anthropology 1, 12-14.
- 1985. “Practicing Hints.” In Master Technique Builders for Vibraphone and Marimba, ed. Anthony Cirone, 73–75. Miami: Belwyn Mills.
- 1986. “Music as Discourse.” Word; Journal of the International Linguistic Association 37 (1-2): 135-139.
- 1987. “Lost in Music.” The Market Place: The International Magazine for Papua New Guinea.
- 1988. “Documenting Papua New Guinea Legends.” READ: The Adult Literacy and Literature Magazine 23 (2): 30.
- 1989. “I Remember When….” The Three Arts Club of Chicago, 75th Anniversary Special, Vol.2, No.1, March Chicago
- 1994. “The Eastern Highlands.” In Universe of Music History, ed. Richard Moyle. Auckland: University of Auckland Press.
- 1995. “Cultural Change and Music Literacy.” Occasional Papers in Pacific Ethnomusicology 4, Anthropology Dept., University of Auckland.
- 1995. “March 6.” Stones of Remembrance (devotional calendar), 65. Wheaton, IL: Wheaton College.
- 1996. “Melanesia.” In Music Cultures of the Pacific, the Near East, and Asia, 3rd ed., 14. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
- 1996. “Perseverance and Patience.” (Summer Institute of Linguistics) EM News 5 (1): 1-2.
- 1996. “The Etic-Emic Distinction Applied to Music Analysis.” The Twenty-Third LACUS Forum, The Linguistic Association of Canada and the United States, Chapel Hill.
- 1997. “If Universals in Music Exist.” In Festschrift for Harold M. Best, Retiring Dean of Wheaton Conservatory of Music. Wheaton, IL: Wheaton College.
- 1997. “1997 Cook Islands Recording Project: A Report.” Newsletter of the Fellowship of Christian Percussionists 4 (2).
- 1998. “Library of Congress Archiving Report.” (Summer Institute of Linguistics) EM News 17 (1).
- 1998. “6-Mallet Etude.” Percussion News, July.
- 1998. “The Marimba, a Challenge to Composers.” Penn Sounds, Winter.
- 1999. Following articles in Encyclopedia of World Music: Australia and the South Pacific, ed. Adrienne L. KaepplerAdrienne L. KaepplerAdrienne Lois Kaeppler is an American anthropologist, curator of Oceanic Ethnology at the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Since 2005, she has been President of the International Council on Traditional Music...
and J. W. Love. New York: Garland.
“Tannese Festivals,” 63-65; “Music as Knowledge: Tonal Centers,” 296; “Structure: Melodic Structure in the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea,” 302–3; “Compositional Processes: Investigating Usarufa Composition,” 357–58; “Musical Composition in Irian Jaya/West Papua,” 360–61; “Dreaming Music on Mota,” 362; “Enga Province,” 533–36; Abelam: A Musical View,” 550–52; “West Sepik Province,” 560–61; “Morobe Province: Buang,” 566–67; “Komba,” 571–72; “Umboi and Its Music,” 574–76; “Irian Jaya/ West Papua Province of Indonesia,” 578–79; “New Ireland Province,” 626–27; “North Solomons Province: Halia,” 640–42; “Teop Island,” 642–44; “Buin,” 651–54; “Solomon Islands – Isabel Province,” 657–59; “Vanuatu – Mota, Banks Islands,” 698–702.
- 1999. “Do Universals in Music Exist?” Evangelical Missions Quarterly 35 (2):161–63.
- 2000. The Significance of Music in the Holy Bible: With Emphasis on Instrumental Music in the Old Testament. Enid, OK: Dougherty.
- 2001. Review of The Value of Indigenous Music in the Life and Ministry of the Church: The United Church in the Duke of York Islands, by Andrew Midian. The Contemporary Pacific, 604–5.
- 2001. “Your Flight.” Percussive Notes, December.
- 2001. “The Influence of Linguistic Processes on Ethnic Music Analysis.” Paper presented at TAONGA of the Asia Pacific Rim, Conference of the New Zealand Society of Music Educators & International Society of Music Educators, Auckland.
- 2002. “Perseverance and Patience.” Ethnodoxology, December.
- 2005. “Earth Drum.” Percussive Notes: Journal of the Percussive Arts Society 43 (5): 48.
- 2006. “What Do You Mean by ‘Transcribe’?” Percussive Notes: Journal of the Percussive Arts Society 44 (1): 36.
- ——— and Darlene Bee. 1968. “On Ethnic Music.” Practical Anthropology 15 (5). (Translated into Spanish, 1979, Dialogo Hermandad Maya 10:5-19.)
- ——— . 1969. “Our Language Is Too Hard.” Translation (Wycliffe Bible Translators; October-December).
- ——— . 1971. “Comparative-Generative Models of a New Guinea Melodic Structure.” American Anthropologist 73 (3):733–82.
- ——— (contributing author). 1981. “Melanesia: Papua New Guinea.” The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 12. London: Macmillan,
Music Compositions
- 1950. Hommage à Bartók, for marimba and piano.
- 1951. Pointillism, for marimba, flute and clarinet (optional cello/ drum)
- 1953. Invention (#1), for solo marimba.
- 1956. Granada, arranged for solo marimba. New York: Southern Music.
- 1993. Four Central American Folk Tunes, for solo marimba. Everett, PA: HoneyRock.
- 1994. Lament, HoneyRock Music Publishers, Everett, PA
- 1997. Three for Four Mallets, oral tradition arranged for solo marimba. Everett, PA: HoneyRock Music.
- ———, ed. 1993. Marimba: 7 Bach Chorales. Miami, FL: CPP/Belwin.
Guest Soloist with These Orchestras
- New York Summer Festival Orchestra 1955
- Oklahoma City Symphony 1956
- Charlotte Little Symphony 1956
- Brevard Festival Orchestra 1956
- Cleveland Orchestra 1956
- National Orchestra of Guatemala 1957
- University of Mexico City Symphony 1957
- Wellesley Community Orchestra 1958
- Brevard Festival Orchestra (return engagement) 1959
- Orchestra of America (return engagement) 1959
- Baltimore Symphony 1959
- Iowa State Symphony 1960
- National Orchestra of Guatemala (return engagement) 1960
- Orchestra of America (return engagement) 1961
- Tulsa Philharmonic 1964
- South Africa Broadcasting Orchestra (twice) 1969
- Oklahoma City Symphony (return engagement) 1970
- New Zealand Orchestra (in Wellington, Masterton, and Auckland) 1971
Press Reviews
“Many of the programmed numbers were marked as written for and/or dedicated to Miss Chenoweth, who has been hailed by the press as the ‘Heifitz’ of her instrument.” Musical Courier 1956“No one plays the marimba, or any other instrument, for that matter, better or more beautifully than Miss Chenoweth.” R. Kammerer, Musical America May 1961
“Without exaggeration, it can be said that Miss Chenoweth is to the marimba what Segovia is to the guitar and Casals to the cello.” Musical America March 1961
(Zabaleta Harp recital at Town Hall): “Comparable artistry on a so-called ‘off-beat’ instrument is not to be found today except, perhaps, in Andres Segovia on the guitar, and Vida Chenoweth on the marimba.” Ronald Eyer, New York Herald Tribune 1962
“Three cheers for Vida Chenoweth! In elevating the marimba to concert level, she has achieved distinction for herself. Those who turned out for her Town Hall recital last night marveled at her musical artistry as well as her technical mastery. This young woman is a real musician… most memorable in this recital was the fugue of the Bach sonata which closed the program. It called for uncanny skill.” Miles Kastendieck, New York Journal-American 1962
“…under the hands of a supreme mistress like Vida Chenoweth, the marimba becomes a different instrument, and one must throw away the labels and take another look.” Ronald Eyer, New York Herald Tribune 1962
“She is easily the Myra Hess of the marimba.” Louis Biancolli, New York Telegram and Sun 1967
“All who have heard her and know what great unique art is, agree that Vida Chenoweth is entitled to be looked upon as a sensational artist in our world of music.” Rudolph Ganz
1959.
New York Times: “She is an expert virtuoso, no false notes were detected, her rhythm superb, her confidence EPOCHAL.” -Harold C. Schonberg
New York World Telegram and Sun: “…every inch an artist…” – Louis Biancolli
New York Herald Tribune: “ Comparable artistry… is not to be found today except, perhaps, in Andres Segovia on the guitar, and Vida Chenoweth on the marimba.” -Ronald Eyer
Music America: “Miss Chenoweth is to the marimba what Segovia is to the guitar and Casals is to the cello.” - Rafael Kammerer
New York Herald Tribune: “…a STAR PERFORMANCE and a bewitching one – no question of that.” – Jay S. Harison
Chicago Daily News: “…everything she touches turns to music.” – Don Henahan
Rudolph Ganz, President of Chicago Musical College, Concert Pianist and Composer and Educator: “All who have heard her and know what great unique art is agree that Miss Chenoweth is entitled to be looked upon as a sensational artist in our world of music.”
Time Magazine: “…the Orchestra of America founded two years ago to perform nothing but American music, presented the world premiere of Robert Kurka’s Concerto for Marimba. Last week’s performance conducted by Richard Korn, featured marimbist Vida Chenoweth as soloist…who proved herself a virtuoso…as for the piece itself, it proved once again that composer Robert Kurka had one of the most promising original talents in U.S. music.”
1961.-62
Musical America: “No one plays the marimba, or any other instrument, for that matter, better or more beautifully than Miss Chenoweth.” - R. Kammerer
Carnegie Hall Program Note 1961-62 Season: “Vida Chenoweth, first virtuoso of the ancient marimba, was discovered by Richard Korn and presented last season with the Orchestra of America to the delight and acclaim of critics and audience. Miss Chenoweth’s dazzling technique has opened fresh dimension in the realm of serious music for the instrument…”
New York Journal American (headline): “Three cheers for Vida Chenoweth! In elevating the marimba to concert level, she has achieved distinction for herself. Those who turned out for her Town Hall recital last night marveled at her musical artistry as well as her technical mastery.” - Miles Kastendieck
New York Times: “Vida Chenoweth is a remarkable and serious musician who has charge of an instrument that normally plays a very small part in our concert life, the marimba.” – Eric Salzman
Mederic Fitzpatrick, Artist Representative: “Of course each artist is, in some way, unique. Vida Chenoweth is a further rarity, she is the only classical marimbist. Her first album – for Epic Records – will be released in the fall of 1962.”
1962.
American Record Guide: “Vida Chenoweth Classic Marimbist” “Altogether, this release is a Must for all who delight in the unusual.” – Kammerer
New York World Telegram and Sun: “She is easily the Myra Hess of the marimba.” – Louis Biancolli
New York Herald Tribune (quote from harpist Nicanor Zabaleta recital): “ Comparable artistry on a so-called ‘off-beat’ instrument is not to be found today except, perhaps, in Andres Segovia on the guitar, and Vida Chenoweth on the marimba.” - Ronald Eyer
Music Journal: “VIDA CHENOWETH has accomplished an impressive elevation in the marimba’s status.”
Volksblatt: “…not only in South America but in the Brahms Hall in Vienna it is more than successful, if one has mastered the instrument so perfectly and with so much musicianship as this lady. There were bravura pieces and fabulous studies in sound. But there was Bach, too, and his E Major Praeludium has seldom been played so true to style.” – Professor Schmidek
De Standard Antwerp: Classical Marimba Recital in the Royal Conservatory Hall, Antwerp, Belgium “The audience, not large but choice, in the hall of the Royal Conservatory broke out spontaneously into wild applause. Vida Chenoweth is the name of the artist who I the first to succeed in treating this ancient instrument from out of the forest in a polyphonic manner and thus elevate it as a solo instrument in the concert hall…It is a graceful thing to see, but above all, it is an unusual musical experience. The striving for new colors and sounds is captivating when it is done with such fine artistic sense and the pieces are not adapted or ‘arranged’ but performed in their original musical scoring.” –H.D.
Le Soir Brussels: “Vida Chenoweth, a young musician, is a great virtuoso in her use of the marimba. She has acquired a rare and perfect technique on it. One is conquered and seduced by the sonorities – gentle, blurred, distant, ethereal…in that she obtains delicate rustlings and varieties of nuance which border on the prodigious. Vida Chenoweth played them with a freedom of flow, a brio and a musicianship that are marks of a great artist. Her success was frenzied…” – P.T.
Het Toneel Antwerp: “On this percussion instrument she succeeds in doing things that had hitherto been thought of as reserved for the piano. She played on it so perfectly that this recital of classical music will be hard to forget…The effects that she achieves are so noble and musically refined that everyone comes at once under her spell.” – L.C.
Neues Osterreich Vienna: At Brahmsaal “One is under the spell of remarkable musicianship. In sound, the exotic element fuses with the sensitive precision of the performance; the sensuous appeal of the instrument is not exploited carelessly or monotonously, but artistically, in order to serve the music.” – S.R.
Le Matin Antwerp: “Marimba Recital at Royal Conservatory Hall” “The artist rendered all those pages with infinite suppleness, color and musicianship. At the end she even appeared as a virtuoso…and here she was simply transcendent.” – Olivier
Antwerpse Gida Antwerp: “We went to the audition hall of the Flemish Music Conservatory with mixed feelings that evening – and left it enraptured. All in all, it was an amazing exhibition of ability and virtuosity; what this artist brought before us was serious, sound work, solidly musical in both composition and interpretation.” – W.M.
AVENIR BELGE Antwerp: “The Royal Flemish Music Conservatory Marimba Recital” “…the young American artist, Vida Chenoweth, gave a remarkable marimba recital. Remarkable for two reasons: the first, because the marimba …is little known here and second, because Vida Chenoweth presented it as a concert instrument with unexpected possibilities…All the numbers on her program were long applauded.” – E.D.
La Lanterne Brussels: “The performer’s virtuosity approaches sorcery.”
Le Peuple Brussels: “Vida Chenoweth developed the marimba as a solo instrument, an instrument of great brilliant virtuosity. By her calm virtuosity and delicate sensibility, Vida Chenoweth mad e a strong impression on an audience that was grateful for the revelation they had received.” – J.C.B.
La Derniere Heure Brussels: “Until one has heard Mlle. Chenoweth, one has no idea of the multiple resources of the magnificent Guatemalan instrument. She plays it in an absolutely classic manner and, if her virtuosity is astonishing, that would be nothing without the perfect style that accompanies it.” – M.P.
La Libre Belgique Brussels: “The opening concert at L’ Atelier was under the auspices of the Ambassador of Guatemala. Vida Chenoweth, who handles the instrument with absolute mastery…is an accomplished artist whose interpretive qualities match a surprising technique.” –S.V.E.
Le Guide du Concert Paris: Recital in Ecole Normale de Musique “It is incontestable that Vida Chenoweth plays the marimba with astonishing virtuosity and gives this instrument citizenship in the realm of classical music.” –Claude Chamfray
1969
The Manila Chronicle: “Audience curiosity and expectation were heightened by the full length marimba program recital which Vida Chenoweth gave…it proved to be genuinely pleasurable…Miss Chenoweth is an artist of formidable gifts.” - Rosalinda E. Orisa
1971
Masterton, New Zealand: “Completely at one with her instrument, she revealed the surprisingly diverse range of effects that the marimba is capable of, and played with superb artistry.” –J.C.Carter
New Zealand Herald: “…the tide turned with a rush. Vida Chenoweth produced a novelty right out of the common run when she played the Concerto for Marimba by Jorge Alvaro Sarmientos…there was much more than novelty to this. It was chock full of musical interest and astonishing performing virtuosity…uncanny skill…” – L.C.M. Saunders
1980
The New York Times: “Miss Chenoweth, once a ‘serious’ marimba virtuoso, gave up her career 15 years ago after a hand injury, turning to linguistics and ethnomusicology. But her control over the instrument is still formidable.” - Edward Rothstein