What is Ethelbert Nevin?
[[Image:Ethelbert Nevin in high collar.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Nevin]] '''Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin''' (born near [[Pittsburgh]], November 25, 1862; died in [[New Haven, Connecticut]], February 17, 1901) was an [[Americans|American]] [[pianist]] and [[composer]]. He is remembered for a small number of romantic songs and piano pieces which became extremely popular in the early [[20th century]]. ==Life== Nevin was born in 1862, at Vineacre, on the river [[Ohio River|Ohio]], near [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]]. He grew up there. His father was a [[newspaper]] [[editor]] and he taught the young boy most subjects. His mother played [[The Piano|the piano]]. The family bought a grand piano, which was the first grand piano ever to be taken across the [[Allegheny Mountains]]. Ethelbert showed musical promise when he was very young. His brother and cousins were also musical. When he was four he was playing the piano with cushions on the floor so that he could reach the [[pedal]]s. His father took him to [[Dresden]] for two years to study music. He also studied in [[Pittsburgh]] and in [[Boston]]. He started his career giving piano lessons. When he had earned enough money he went to [[Berlin]] where he had lessons from Karl Klindworth, who was a good teacher for him. He showed Nevin how important it was to have a good general knowledge, and not just to spend hours and hours practising the piano. This helped Nevin, who had good tastes in literature and he chose some good poems to make into songs. In 1885 he was invited to join a group who had lessons from [[Hans von Bülow]]. He played works by of [[Brahms]], [[Liszt]], and [[Raff]]. [[Cosima Wagner]] and [[Joseph Joachim]] often came to the concerts given by this group. In 1887 he went back to America and lived in Boston, where he taught and played in some concerts. He asked [[Richard Strauss]] to teach him [[Composition (music)|composition]] but Strauss did not accept him. In 1892 he went to [[Paris]], where he taught singing, and helped many Americ