The early editions (ca. 1841) of Augusta Browne’s American Bouquet bore a dedication to “Miss Sarah E. Wise of Virginia.” Although this flourish disappeared in subsequent imprints by Lee and Walker, the dedication to Sarah Wise presents an interesting connection from composer to consumer. The trajectories of these women’s lives raise questions about their respective actions during the Civil War some two decades later.
When I began to browse university library shelves in 1983 in search of music published in magazines from the past, I was surprised by how many pieces indicated women as the composers.[1] I saw so many examples that I began to compile the names of women and their music that I found in different periodicals.[2] Augusta Browne was one of the names that turned up most frequently in American magazines. Between 1840 and 1850 she published songs and piano solos in at least six different periodical titles.[3] Browne’s keyboard dance The Columbian Quick-Step—published in the Columbian Magazine in December 1844—was one of the first pieces that I selected for use in lecture-recitals about magazine music.[4]
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