author
Pitts Sanborn
1879–1941
A sharp-eyed music critic, poet, and novelist, he moved easily between journalism and literature in early 20th-century New York. Best remembered for his lively criticism and the novel Prima Donna, he brought a distinctly musical ear to everything he wrote.
2 Audiobooks
Ludwig van Beethoven
by Pitts Sanborn
Brahms and some of his works
by Pitts Sanborn
About the author
Born John Pitts Sanborn in Port Huron, Michigan, he usually published as Pitts Sanborn. He studied at Harvard, earning a bachelor's degree in 1900 and a master's degree in 1902, then built a career as a music critic for New York newspapers including the New York Globe, the New York Mail, and the New York World-Telegram.
Sanborn also wrote poetry and worked on the editorial staff of Trend beginning in 1914. Alongside his criticism, he published fiction as well, and his 1929 novel Prima Donna drew notable praise at the time. His contemporaries saw him as an original literary voice as well as an unusually perceptive critic.
He died on March 7, 1941. Although he is less widely known now than some of the writers around him, his career shows an impressive range: journalist, poet, novelist, and one of the distinctive music critics of his era.