Carrie Burpee Shaw

Mary Caroline (Carrie) Burpee Shaw (1850–1946)[1] was an American composer,[2] music educator,[3] and pianist.[4] She published her music under the name Carrie Burpee Shaw.

Shaw was born in Rockland, Maine, to Mary Jane Partridge and Nathaniel Adams Burpee.[5] Her brother was the marine impressionist painter William Partridge Burpee.[6] Shaw married Reverend Eurastus Melville Shaw in 1873 and they had three children, Winifred May, Louis Eaton,[7] and the composer Alice Marion Shaw.[8]

Shaw studied piano and organ with Stephen Emery, Percy Goetschius, Hermann Kotschmann,[9] Frederic Lamond, Benjamin Johnson Lang, Effa Ellis Perfield, Thomas Tapper, and Antha Minerva Virgil. She worked as an organist in several different churches. In 1873, Shaw founded the Rockland Rubenstein Club.[10] In 1900, she and Mrs. James Wright opened the Rockland Music School.[11] In 1907, Shaw accompanied the Maine Festival Chorus.[12] She donated her music collection to the Rockland Public Library in 1942.[13]

Shaw’s music was published by C.W. Thompson & Company.[14] Her compositions include some instrumental works[10] as well as the following compositions for voice and piano:

  • “All is O’er”[10]
  • “Dandelions” (text by Winnifred Fales)[15]
  • Field Sparrow (women’s chorus)[10]
  • Humpty-Dumpty (mixed chorus)[10]
  • “My Sunshine”[10]
  • Prairie Dog (men’s chorus; text by Winnifred Fales)[14]
  • Te Deum Laudamus (mixed chorus)[16]
  • The Lord is Great in Zion (mixed chorus)[10]
  • There was a Little Man (mixed chorus)[10]


  1. ^ Stern, Susan (1978). Women composers : a handbook. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-1138-3. OCLC 3844725.
  2. ^ Hixon, Donald L. (1993). Women in music : an encyclopedic biobibliography. Don A. Hennessee (2nd ed.). Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-2769-7. OCLC 28889156.
  3. ^ Maine Register Or State Year-book and Legislative Manual from April 1 ... to April 1 ... J.B. Gregory. 1907.
  4. ^ Stewart-Green, Miriam (1980). Women composers : a checklist of works for the solo voice. Boston, Mass.: G.K. Hall. ISBN 0-8161-8498-4. OCLC 6815939.
  5. ^ Burpee, Mary Caroline. "www.ancestry.com". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
  6. ^ Howlett, D. Roger (1991). William Partridge Burpee: American Marine Impressionist (1846-1940). Copley Square Press. ISBN 978-0-9628143-0-3.
  7. ^ Fraternity, Zeta Psi (1900). Zeta Psi Fraternity of North America: Founded June 1 ... 1847. Semi-centennial Biographical Catalogue, with Data to December 31, 1899. The Fraternity.
  8. ^ Directory of American Women Composers. National Federation of Music Clubs. 1970.
  9. ^ Laurence, Anya (1978). Women of notes : 1.000 women composers Born Before 1900. Richards Rosen Press, Inc. OCLC 1123454581.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Cohen, Aaron I. (1987). International Encyclopedia of Women Composers. Books & Music (USA). ISBN 978-0-9617485-2-4.
  11. ^ The New England Magazine. New England Magazine Company. 1905.
  12. ^ Musical Courier. 1907.
  13. ^ Association, Maine Library (1942). The Bulletin of the Maine Library Association.
  14. ^ a b Office, Library of Congress Copyright (1914). Catalog of Copyright Entries. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  15. ^ Shaw, Carrie Burpee; Fales, Winnifred (1914). Dandelions. C.W. Thompson & Co.
  16. ^ Maine, General Conference of the Congregational Churches in (1887). Anniversary. The Conference.