Earnest Andersson

Earnest Andersson (born Ernest DeNeen Anderson; February 10, 1878 – June 23, 1943) was an American polymath born to a Swedish immigrant father in Iowa. Childhood illness prevented him from attaining formal schooling beyond the fifth grade. Andersson, a highly precocious child, nevertheless became skilled as a composer, inventor, and painter through a combination of home schooling and auto-didacticism.

After dithering over which field to pursue, he chose to become an inventor and moved to New York City to find work. Andersson soon became financially successful; by the end of the 1920s, the patents he was granted for various packaging machines he invented had made him a millionaire. He also became an accomplished amateur athlete, race car driver, pilot, photographer, and radio operator. His wealth connected him to influential artists, including those that he met at the Hotel des Artistes, which he had devised and where he also kept a residence. Although he was affected by the consequences of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, financial decisions he had made allowed him to bear the period without excessive detriment. After a brief residence in Florida, where he became a professional golfer, he settled in Hollywood, California, where he gained attention for the quality of his amateur photography of local film stars.

Throughout his life, Andersson maintained his interest in music. After he moved to California, he rededicated himself to composition, and hired various teachers to help improve his skills. The last of these was Igor Stravinsky, with whom he studied regularly from 1941 to 1943. Stravinsky and his wife, Vera, were grateful to Andersson for the income he provided. In turn, Andersson took on roles in their household as handyman, secretary, and friend. He died in Santa Monica, California, in 1943.

Most of Andersson's personal effects, including musical manuscripts, were destroyed in a fire after his death. In the early 21st century, some of his belongings, including his notebook detailing his lessons with Stravinsky, were discovered in the possession of a private collector. Although critical reception of Andersson's music was mostly positive during his lifetime, posthumous appraisals—including by Stravinsky, who had formerly been a supporter—have been negative. James Sample, who said Stravinsky's later statements were borne from envy for his student's facility, considered Andersson a superior composer to Charles Ives.

Andersson was born Ernest DeNeen Anderson in Burr Oak, Iowa, on February 10, 1878, at his family's home, known locally as "The Red Barn". He was the third of five children born to Lavina (née Nichols) and Andrew Edward Anderson (baptized Anders Edvard Andersson), an inventor of farm equipment who had immigrated from Ödeshög, Sweden. This Swedish heritage was a source of pride for Andersson his entire life. His family moved to Grand Forks, North Dakota, in 1882, then settled permanently in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the end of the 1880s.

Poor health prevented Andersson from attaining any formal education beyond the fifth-grade. Nevertheless, he was considered an intellectually precocious child. Aside from being home-schooled sporadically by his parents, Andersson also taught himself. He reputedly memorized the English dictionary, among his youthful accomplishments. In his childhood, he studied piano, violin, and also played the tenor horn in a children's band in North Dakota. He began to compose music in 1895, by which point he believed his development had reached a level comparable to those of the composers he admired most. On September 3, he wrote to his father:

If I am ever able to compose (hoping the time will soon come), I would like to have the grandness of Wagner, the deepness of Beethoven, the smoothness of Chopin, the clearness of Haydn, the religiousness of Handel, to sing as beautiful a song in notes as Mendelsshon [sic] did, and to have a soul [to] reign over all.

The letter ends with a quote from a remark that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow had made to his father: "I am almost confident in believing that if I can rise in the world, it must be by the exercise of my talent". Andersson added that the statement could just as well apply to him and his music. Despite his stated resolve, he was unsure of whether to devote himself to becoming a composer, painter, or inventor.