February 28, 1876:
John Alden Carpenter is born in Park Ridge, Illinois, USA, the last of four children born to George B. Carpenter, a wealthy owner of George B. Carpenter and Co., wholesaler and retailer of dry goods, and Elizabeth Curtis Greene, amateur pianist and organist who studied voice in Europe.
December 18, 1894:
Minuet for orchestra by John Alden Carpenter (18) is performed for the first time, at Harvard University, where the composer is in his second year.
November 20, 1900:
John Alden Carpenter (24) marries Rue Winterbotham in Chicago. She was educated at private school and in Europe and is the daughter of a wealthy businessman.
July 17, 1912:
John Alden Carpenter (36) takes his last composition lesson from Bernhard Ziehn in Chicago. Ziehn will die shortly.
October 12, 1912:
An article appears in Musical America written by conductor and composer Kurt Schindler, extolling the virtues of John Alden Carpenter (36). He is “of such unusual accomplishments and culture, such gifts of melody and harmony that, to my mind, his success all over the world is already a matter of certainty.”
December 11, 1912:
A Violin Sonata by John Alden Carpenter (36) is performed for the first time, in Aeolian Hall, New York. The critics are not impressed.
February 21, 1914:
Polonaise américaine and Impromptu, two piano works by John Alden Carpenter (37), are performed, possibly for the first time.
April 27, 1914:
John Alden Carpenter’s (38) orchestration of his song cycle Gitanjali to words of Tagore, is performed for the first time, in Orchestra Hall, Chicago.
March 19, 1915:
The orchestral suite Adventures of a Perambulator by John Alden Carpenter (39) is performed for the first time, in Orchestra Hall, Chicago. It is instantly popular.
March 10, 1916:
Concertino for piano and orchestra by John Alden Carpenter (40) is performed for the first time, in Orchestra Hall, Chicago. Percy Grainger (33) is the soloist.
October 4, 1916:
Water Colors, a song cycle for voice and piano by John Alden Carpenter (40) to words of Chinese poets, is performed completely for the first time, in Chicago the composer at the keyboard. See 21 November 1920.
June 5, 1917:
Symphony no.1 “Sermons in Stone” by John Alden Carpenter (41) is performed for the first time, privately, in the Music Shed of the Litchfield County Choral Union, on the estate of Carl Stoeckel in Norfolk, Connecticut. See 19 October 1917.
October 19, 1917:
Symphony no.1 “Sermons in Stone” by John Alden Carpenter (41) is performed publicly for the first time, in Chicago.
October 23, 1917:
Two piano pieces by John Alden Carpenter (41), Little Indian and Little Nigger, are performed for the first time, in Aeolian Hall, New York.
February 7, 1918:
As part of the National Committee on Army and Navy Camp Music, John Alden Carpenter (41) attends a meeting in Washington with John Philip Sousa (63) to improve band music in the military.
December 23, 1919:
The Birthday of the Infanta, a ballet-pantomime by John Alden Carpenter (43) after Wilde, is performed for the first time, in Chicago. It is an immediate public and critical success.
July 18, 1920:
Leopold Stokowski writes to John Alden Carpenter (44) commissioning a work to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the arrival of the Mayflower. See 26 November 1920.
November 21, 1920:
John Alden Carpenter’s (44) orchestration of his song cycle Water Colors to words of Chinese poets (tr. Giles) is performed for the first time, in Minneapolis.
November 26, 1920:
A Pilgrim Vision, a tone poem by John Alden Carpenter (44), composed in honor of the 300th anniversary of the landing of the Mayflower, is performed for the first time, in Philadelphia. Critics are mildly positive.
December 3, 1920:
The Birthday of the Infanta Suite for orchestra by John Alden Carpenter (44) from his ballet of the same name, is performed for the first time, in Orchestra Hall, Chicago. See 23 December 1919.
October 31, 1921:
A jury consisting of Walter Damrosch, Richard Aldrich, WJ Henderson, John Alden Carpenter (45), Walter Spalding, and Owen Wister chooses Leo Sowerby as the first fellow at the American Academy in Rome. Sowerby was not one of the 14 applicants.
December 23, 1921:
Krazy Kat, a jazz pantomime by John Alden Carpenter (45), is performed for the first time, in a concert setting, in Orchestra Hall, Chicago. See 20 January 1922.
January 20, 1922:
Krazy Kat, a jazz pantomime by John Alden Carpenter (45), is staged for the first time, in Town Hall, New York. See 23 December 1922.
December 29, 1922:
At a luncheon to honor the visiting Vincent d’Indy (71) in Chicago, attended by Sergey Prokofiev (31) and John Alden Carpenter (46), the French Consul, Antonin Barthélemy, announces that Carpenter has been named a member of the Legion of Honor.
July 5, 1923:
John Alden Carpenter (48) meets with Sergey Diaghilev in Paris. Diaghilev commissions a ballet on an American theme, suggesting a policemen’s strike. Carpenter gleefully accepts.
June 4, 1924:
The American painter Gerald Murphy and his wife invite several friends to lunch in their Paris home, including John Alden Carpenter (48) and his wife, Darius Milhaud (31), Leon Bakst, and the Princesse de Polignac. Murphy will do much to introduce Carpenter into the circles of European music making.
December 12, 1924:
Ellen Borden is divorced from John Borden. She has been carrying on a long affair with John Alden Carpenter (48).
February 22, 1925:
John Alden Carpenter (48) hosts a party in his home for Igor Stravinsky (42), presently visiting Chicago.
February 24, 1925:
John Alden Carpenter (48) helps to organize a reception for Igor Stravinsky (42) at the Chicago Arts Club during Stravinsky’s American tour.
April 14, 1925:
John Alden Carpenter (50) signs a contract with the Metropolitan Opera, New York, to produce his new ballet, Le Chant des gratte-ciel (Skyscrapers).
April 16, 1925:
After sending the piano score to his commissioned ballet Le Chant des gratte-ciel to Sergey Diaghilev in Paris, and waiting seven months with no response, John Alden Carpenter (50) informs Diaghilev that he has signed a contract with the Metropolitan Opera for the premiere of the work.
February 19, 1926:
Skyscrapers, a ballet by John Alden Carpenter (49), is performed for the first time, at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York. The sold-out audience and critics are enthusiastic. See 5 November 1926.
November 5, 1926:
The Skyscrapers Suite for orchestra by John Alden Carpenter (50), from the ballet of the same name, is performed for the first time, in Chicago. See 19 February 1926.
April 28, 1928:
A String Quartet by John Alden Carpenter (52) is performed for the first time, at the Library of Congress in Washington. Reviews are generally positive.
April 28, 1929:
Serge Koussevitzky asks John Alden Carpenter (53) to compose a work as part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
July 1, 1931:
US Representative Sol Bloom, associate director of the George Washington Bicentennial Commission, writes to John Alden Carpenter (55) asking him to compose a work in honor of the 200th anniversary of Washington’s birth.
December 7, 1931:
In the waiting room of her doctor’s office, Rue Carpenter, wife of John Alden Carpenter (55), dies of a cerebral hemorrhage. She is accompanied by her daughter, who will blame her mother’s early death on the longstanding affair of her father with Ellen Borden.
February 21, 1932:
Song of Faith for chorus, unseen speaker, and orchestra by John Alden Carpenter (55) to words of Washington and the composer, is performed for the first time, in a radio broadcast to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of George Washington.
October 21, 1932:
Patterns for piano and orchestra by John Alden Carpenter (56) is performed for the first time, in Symphony Hall, Boston, the composer at the keyboard. The work was commissioned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
January 30, 1933:
John Alden Carpenter (56) marries his second wife, Ellen Waller Borden, in the home of A. Kingsley Porter, a relative of the bride, at 33 Elmwood Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is a wealthy divorcee, the daughter of a real estate developer. Carpenter, having forgotten to get a marriage license, is required to go to city hall to get one before the wedding can proceed.
November 30, 1933:
Sea-Drift, a symphonic poem by John Alden Carpenter (57), is performed for the first time, in Orchestra Hall, Chicago.
September 19, 1934:
Quintet for piano and strings by John Alden Carpenter (58) is performed for the first time, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
December 18, 1934:
John Alden Carpenter (58) writes to Florence Price (46) agreeing to propose her for membership in ASCAP.
December 5, 1935:
Danza for orchestra by John Alden Carpenter (59) is performed for the first time, in Orchestra Hall, Chicago. It is an orchestration of his piano piece of the same name.
November 18, 1937:
A Violin Concerto by John Alden Carpenter (61) is performed for the first time, in Orchestra Hall, Chicago. The critics are very positive.
May 10, 1938:
John Alden Carpenter (62) is awarded the Medal of St. Sava by King Petar II of Yugoslavia in Belgrade.
January 3, 1939:
Amy Beach (71), Daniel Gregory Mason (65), John Alden Carpenter (62), Wallingford Riegger (53), Aaron Copland (38), Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, Efrem Zimbalist, Olin Downes, and Alfred Hertz sign a letter urging the United States to lift the arms embargo against the “legitimate Spanish government.”
July 8, 1940:
Fire destroys part of the summer home of John Alden Carpenter (64) in Beverly, Massachusetts. Among the items lost are Carpenter’s piano and some manuscripts.
October 24, 1940:
First Symphony by John Alden Carpenter (64) is performed for the first time, in Chicago to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It is an almost complete revision of his Symphony no.1 “Sermons in Stone.” See 5 June 1917.
April 17, 1941:
A Song for Illinois for orchestra by John Alden Carpenter (65) is performed for the first time, in Orchestra Hall, Chicago.
March 4, 1942:
Song of Freedom for chorus and orchestra by John Alden Carpenter (66) to words of Martin is performed for the first time, in Chicago.
October 22, 1942:
Symphony no.2 by John Alden Carpenter (66) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Hall, New York. The critics are generally negative.
November 3, 1943:
Dance Suite for orchestra by John Alden Carpenter (67) is performed for the first time, in Washington. It consists of the already existing Danza and new orchestrations of two piano works, Polonaise américaine and Tango américain.
November 17, 1943:
The Anxious Bugler for orchestra by John Alden Carpenter (67) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Hall, New York.
November 29, 1945:
The Seven Ages, a symphonic suite by John Alden Carpenter (69), is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Hall, New York.
November 15, 1946:
Danza for piano by John Alden Carpenter (70) is performed for the first time, in New York.
February 13, 1947:
The National Institute of Arts and Letters awards its gold medal to John Alden Carpenter (70) in New York.
November 20, 1949:
Carmel Concerto by John Alden Carpenter (73) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Hall, New York.
April 26, 1951:
John Alden Carpenter dies of heart failure in his home at 999 Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois, USA, aged 75 years, one month, and 29 days.
April 27, 1951:
A service in memory of John Alden Carpenter is held at his Chicago home one day after his death. His mortal remains will be buried in the Central Cemetery near his summer home in Beverly, Massachusetts.