Woman of the Century/Emma Marcy Raymond

RAYMOND, Mrs. Emma Marcy, musical composer, born in New York, N. Y., 16th March, 1856. She is the daughter of Dr. Erastus Egerton Marcy, of New York City. EMMA MARCY RAYMOND. She showed a remarkable aptitude for music at a very early age, having composed her first song before the completion of her fifth year. She inherits her musical talents from her parents, both of whom are gifted amateurs. She was reared in an atmosphere of music, and had the advantage of studying under the best teachers who visited this country. She studied the piano with Gottschalk and Raccoman, vocal music with Ronconi, and counterpoint and harmony with the bestGerman masters. Her musical sympathies are almost entirely with the Italian and French schools. Being a firm believer in the gift of free and spontaneous melody, she believes that, where human emotions are to be portrayed in music, the proper means to use in such portrayal is the human voice, and she leaves to the instruments the task of accompanying. She is a prolific writer and is equally at home in the composition of a waltz, a ballad, an operetta or a sacred song. Her opera "Dovetta" was produced in New York in 1889. She is the author of several pieces sung by Patti, and her productions cover the entire field of music.