Margaret Bradford Boni
Margaret Bradford Boni | |
|---|---|
 Margaret Taylor Bradford, later Boni, from a 1917 advertisement | |
| Born | Margaret Taylor Bradford November 23, 1892 Birmingham, Alabama |
| Died | November 26, 1974 (age 82) New York City |
| Occupation(s) | Music educator, folklorist |
| Relatives | Irita Bradford Van Doren(sister) Albert Boni(brother-in-law) Carl Van Doren(brother-in-law) |
Margaret Taylor Bradford Boni(November 23, 1892 – November 26, 1974) was an American music educator and folklorist. She edited several books of popular music, includingThe Fireside Book of Folk Songs(1947). She taught music at theCity and Country Schoolfrom 1928 to 1954, where she worked withPete Seegerin the 1940s.
Early life and education
[edit]Bradford was born inBirmingham, Alabama,and raised in Florida, the daughter of John Taylor Bradford and Ida Henley Brooks Bradford. Her father was in the lumber industry; her older sister was editorIrita Bradford Van Doren.[1]She graduated fromFlorida State College for Womenin 1909,[2]with further musical studies at theJuilliard School.[3][4]
Career
[edit]Bradford taught piano and harmony at the Little Rock Conservatory and College for Women in Arkansas in the 1910s.[4][5]Boni was director of the music department at theCity and Country Schoolin New York City, from 1928 to 1954.[1]One of the other music teachers during her tenure was a young Pete Seeger, who taught at the school in 1949. She promoted the use of therecorderas a teaching instrument, and taught recorder classes atNew York University.[3][6]ArtistJulian E. Levipainted a portrait of Boni playing recorder in 1940.[7]
Publications
[edit]SongwriterBilly Joelwrote in a 2020 essay that "The most important book I ever had in my life was my mother's copy ofThe Fireside Book of Folk Songsby Margaret Bradford Boni. "He explained that the combination of music and lyrics and images caught his imagination as a small child, before he could read or play music.[8]
- How to Play the Recorder(1938)[9]
- Keep Singing, Keep Humming(1946, illustrated byLucienne Bloch)
- The Fireside Book of Folk Songs(1947, illustrated byMartin and Alice Provensen)[10][11]
- The Fireside Book of Favorite American Songs(1952, illustrated byAurelius Battaglia)[12]
- The Fireside Book of Love Songs(1954)[13]
- Favorite Christmas Carols(1957)[14]
- Songs of the Gilded Age(1960)[15]
Personal life
[edit]Bradford marriedGreenwich Villagebookseller and publisher Charles Boni Jr. in 1931.[16][17][18]He died in 1969, and she died in 1974, at the age of 82, in New York City.[6]
References
[edit]- ^abBonner, David (2007-11-26).Revolutionizing Children's Records: The Young People's Records and Children's Record Guild Series, 1946-1977.Scarecrow Press. pp. 72–73.ISBN978-1-4617-1938-0.
- ^"Seniors of 1909".Tallahassee Democrat.1959-11-12. p. 8.Retrieved2024-03-02– via Newspapers.com.
- ^ab"Boni, Margaret Bradford, 1893-1974".Alabama Authors.Retrieved2024-03-02.
- ^ab"Conservatory Has Selected Faculty".Arkansas Democrat.1916-07-27. p. 5.Retrieved2024-03-02– via Newspapers.com.
- ^"Concert by Pupils".Arkansas Democrat.1913-06-10. p. 9.Retrieved2024-03-02– via Newspapers.com.
- ^ab"Margaret Boni, 82, a Writer on Songs".The New York Times.Retrieved2024-03-02.
- ^Ford, Virginia (1948-05-23)."Dominant Trend in Painting".Buffalo Courier Express.p. 46.Retrieved2024-03-02– via Newspapers.com.
- ^Bañagale, Ryan Raul; Duchan, Joshua S. (2020-08-10)."We Didn't Start the Fire": Billy Joel and Popular Music Studies.Rowman & Littlefield.ISBN978-1-7936-0182-7.
- ^Boni, Margaret Bradford (1938).How to play the recorder: selected tunes.Schirmer.
- ^Boni, Margaret Bradford; Lloyd, Norman (1947).Fireside Book of Folk Songs: 147 of the Great Ballads and old favorites.Internet Archive.
- ^Wilkin, Lucile (1948)."Review of Fireside Book of Folk Songs; Sing of America".Western Folklore.7(2): 200–202.doi:10.2307/1497426.ISSN0043-373X.JSTOR1497426.
- ^Boni, Margaret Bradford, ed.The Fireside Book of Favorite American Songs.Simon and Schuster, 1956.
- ^Boni, Margaret Bradford, and Norman Lloyd.Fireside Book of Love Songs,arranged for the Piano by Norman Lloyd. Simon and Schuster, 1954.
- ^Boni, Margaret Bradford, ed.Favorite Christmas Carols: Fifty-nine Yuletide Songs Both Old and New.Golden Press; sole agents: Belwin, Rockville Centre, NY, 1957.
- ^"Gay, Nostalgic Songs of Nineties Live On/Dr. F. W. Bradley".The State.1962-03-04. p. 66.Retrieved2024-03-02– via Newspapers.com.
- ^"Milestones, Aug. 10, 1931".Time.1931-08-10.ISSN0040-781X.Retrieved2024-03-02.
- ^"Charles Boni Marries; Weds Miss Margaret Bradford, New York Teacher".The New York Times.1931-08-02.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2024-03-02.
- ^"Albert and Charles Boni, Inc. records".UCLA Library Social Collections, via the Online Archive of California.Retrieved2024-03-02.
External links
[edit]- Julian Edwin Levi, "Margaret Boni Playing the Recorder, 1940",an oil painting in the collection of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
