[CAUT] Fw: Margaret Hood: Nov 18, 1937-June 7, 2008

[Ed Sutton]

More sad news. ES

> -------------- Forwarded Message: --------------
> From: "C. E Hood" <hood at UWPLATT.EDU>
> To: HPSCHD-L at listserv.albany.edu
> Subject: Margaret Hood: Nov 18, 1937-June 7, 2008
> Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:35:33 +0000
>> List Members,
>>   It is my unwelcome task to pass on the sad news that Margaret has died. 
>> An
>> obituary appears below.
>>   Ellsworth
>>
>> MARGARET F. HOOD : Nov 19, 1937-June 7, 2008
>>
>>
>> -MARGARET F. HOOD, fortepiano and harpsichord designer and maker, died 
>> June 7,
>> 2008. Margaret was born Nov. 19, 1937 in New York City and grew up in 
>> Greenwich,
>> Connecticut.  She graduated from The Greenwich Academy in 1954 and 
>> continued her
>> education at Mt. Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, where 
>> she
>> pursued her interests in philosophy, religion and art.  Upon graduation 
>> from Mt.
>> Holyoke in 1958, Margaret continued the pursuit of her intellectual and 
>> academic
>> interests at the Pacific School of Religion (PSR) in Berkeley, 
>> California. Along
>> with her academic work, Margaret did calligraphic and artifact 
>> restoration work
>> for the Bade Archaeological Museum at PSR. At graduation in 1961, she was
>> awarded a Danforth Fellowship at Duke University for the following year.
>>     Margaret's youthful love of horses remained with her throughout her 
>> life.
>> She developed her skills not only in riding but in training in the 
>> English
>> traditions of jumping, cross country and dressage. Boxes of ribbons 
>> attest to
>> the level of her success in horsemanship.
>>     Margaret came from a family of painters and she continued the 
>> tradition with
>> an extensive repertoire of styles and techniques.  She added to that 
>> tradition
>> by applying her artistic talents and skills to the painting of
>> historically-appropriate paintings and decorations on the lids and 
>> soundboards
>> of harpsichords.
>>     In the 1970s, Margaret began a career as a builder of 
>> historically-correct
>> reproductions of early keyboard instruments: harpsichords, clavichords 
>> and
>> fortepianos. She was for a time an agent for Zuckerman Harpsichords and 
>> then,
>> after extensive research in Europe and the US, she founded her own 
>> company,
>> Margaret Hood Fortepianos [http://fortepianos.pair.com]. She proceeded to 
>> build
>> instruments of her own design, based on her research and analysis of 
>> surviving
>> original instruments and the written records from the time in which the
>> instruments were built. Her instruments and her scholarship have earned 
>> her a
>> national and international reputation as a builder of exceptionally fine
>> instruments, particularly reproductions of the pianos of Nannette 
>> Streicher,
>> whose instruments were highly praised by Beethoven and were his preferred 
>> choice
>> to play in performance. Margaret also earned national and international
>> recognition among Beethoven scholars and early music performers for h!
>>  er research and publications with regard to Beethoven and the 
>> instruments of
>> his time.  In addition, Margaret wrote and published two technical 
>> manuals, one
>> on repair and maintenance of harpsichords, and one on repair and 
>> maintenance of
>> fortepianos.
>>     In addition to her professional interests, Margaret enjoyed varied
>> activities, such as camping and canoeing with her family, gardening, 
>> abundant
>> reading, debating politics, and socializing with the large circle of 
>> friends
>> drawn to her by her genuineness as a person, her energy, intelligence, 
>> quick
>> wit, and broad interests.
>>     Margaret was united in marriage with C. Ellsworth Hood in 1961.  She 
>> is
>> survived by her husband, Ellsworth, her daughter, Vivian Andrea, and her 
>> son,
>> Thomas William. With her passing the world of music has suffered a loss 
>> of
>> immense proportions and her family a loss greater still.
>>     A private memorial celebration of Margaret and her life will be held 
>> by the
>> family at a later date.
>>
>