Augusta Browne Archives

See and Hear Music by Augusta Browne

On November 20, 2023

Where can I see sheet music by Augusta Browne? How can I hear music by Augusta Browne? These are the questions people ask most frequently about the composer. On the Music Editions page of this website, you will find links to open-access databases that include nineteenth-century imprints of music by Browne. The Music Editions page lists more than eighty music titles available online. The entries are arranged by genre (piano pieces; songs; hymns), then alphabetically by title.

Look for “Listen to the Music” links on the Music Editions page for online performances of music by Augusta Browne. Some renditions are recorded performances, others are audio files generated from Finale music notation software.

Who was J. W. B. Garrett?

By Bonny Miller

On April 26, 2023

In Posts

Who was J. W. B. Garrett, whom Augusta Browne married in September 1855, within weeks of first meeting him?

J. W. B. (John Walter Benjamin) Garrett was an artist who specialized in portraits, especially paintings made from small daguerreotypes, just as families today can commission a portrait to be painted from a photograph. Garrett had not trained as an artist and turned to painting around 1850, after chasing journalism and politics as a young man. John (J. W. B.) did not hail from New York. He arrived in Gotham during the summer of 1855, after traveling from Memphis, Tennessee, where he had recently lived and maintained a portrait studio.

Paper and Pen

By Bonny Miller

On July 3, 2022

In Posts

Introduction

The title page of The Lady’s Almanac for 1854 showcases a romanticized illustration of a lady writing with a quill pen at an ornate desk as time slips away in the winged hourglass.

Augusta Browne’s table and chair would have been far less grand than the engraving depicts, but she was already making contributions as a writer as well as a composer. On page 92, the almanac includes her name—lacking (as often happened) the final e of Browne—among noted American women writers.

Augusta Browne’s American Bouquet, Part 1

By Bonny Miller

On June 29, 2022

In Posts

On the Fourth of July, 1826, Augusta Browne strolled along the streets of Boston with her siblings and parents. The day held special significance since it was the fiftieth anniversary of Independence Day, the day the Continental Congress passed the Declaration of Independence. Bands were marching and performing in parades and celebrations throughout Boston. Augusta’s father had even persuaded Mr. Kendall’s Brigade Band to play his American Grand March in one of the events.

The Browne family had only arrived in Boston a few weeks earlier. It was Augusta’s first taste of America after living in St. John (New Brunswick, Canada) since she was a toddler. The Boston Commercial Gazette reported that the “glorious day was celebrated in this city with every becoming demonstration of joy and gratitude.” The little girl drank in the sights and sounds of the grand celebration in Boston. Memory of the festive, patriotic music heard that day may have lingered in Augusta’s mind as one of her earliest impressions of the United States. That memory may have been a catalyst years later for her American Bouquet.

American Bouquet, first edition (Philadelphia: Osbourn’s Music Saloon, ca. 1840). Digital Image, Boston Public Library

Music, History, Women, and Heritage

Tag: Augusta Browne Page 1 of 4

See and Hear Music by Augusta Browne

Who was J. W. B. Garrett?

Paper and Pen

Introduction

Augusta Browne’s American Bouquet, Part 1