Epilogue

In the twenty-first century Sowerby’s sacred music is often admired and regularly performed, while his concert music remains obscure. Nevertheless, recent decades have seen various efforts to bring Sowerby to greater attention, often led by former students or associates and centered in Chicago. More broadly, efforts to recover “lost” voices have recently gained considerable traction, in particular the long-overdue attention now given to musicians from diverse gender, racial, and stylistic backgrounds. Composers like Sowerby, who cultivated traditional musical forms and do not necessarily fall within these demographic profiles, may not appear fashionable in this milieu. Yet Sowerby’s music can still speak to today’s listeners, and indeed greater familiarity with it is essential to appreciating the construction of America’s national music tradition.