Since Facebook will not let me attach documents to my reply in David Brown’s comments, I’ve placed here the list I built for my once-a-day posts in February for Black History Month.
This is not an exhaustive list and is only a marking point of the ongoing process of my learning about music by black musicians. There of course are genres untouched…my point of departure is stated in the first post below…
Posted in the beginning of February:
What follows is a post per day highlighting someone and a sample of their music. These will mostly be “classical” musicians. The ones who aren’t are/were jazz artists that had early influences on me through my listening. Some of these artists may be obvious and they appear because I think they are important. The posts of lesser known musicians are meant to help give exposure AND reveal my own learning, which occurred during the preparation for this exercise and FB celebration. Here we go!
POSTED:
Article: https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/black-composers-who-made-classical-music-history/
Florence Price (composer): https://www.npr.org/2019/01/21/686622572/revisiting-the-pioneering-composer-florence-price
Symphony No. 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPjRug77uG8
James DePreist (conductor): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_DePreist
A Young DePreist conducting the “Promenade” & “Gnomus” from “Pictures at an Exhibition” with the NY Phil: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqTlXvCqW0U
Short promo interview for Pasadena Symphony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IUK3CQmcIo
Shirley Verrett (mezzo-soprano): https://shirleyverrett.com/
“Vieni t’affretta” from Verdi’s “MacBeth” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13HE0ow1qZY
“Libera Me” from Verdi’s “Requiem” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbwaNWCu-YM
#goblue
Wynton Marsalis (trumpeter, composer, bandleader): https://wyntonmarsalis.org/about/bio
“Carnival” Album with Eastman Wind Ensemble: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0V4qPEK8jQ&list=PLL5-p8EaV05kNrcNXDh9G8GfYG2GWvFDL
James Reese Europe (composer, arranger, bandleader) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Reese_Europe
Short video description: https://youtu.be/0N-H-RJ3T-E
Memphis Blues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4xODDsTpCw
Castle House Rag: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRQ5CU3l8tQ
The Clef Club March: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy73iFlOOq0
William Warfield (bass-baritone, actor):
https://www.esm.rochester.edu/alumni/files/WilliamWarfield.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Warfield
“Deep River” in 1999 at age 79!: https://youtu.be/xPUzS_13QcI
“The Trumpet Shall Sound”: https://youtu.be/8BZNuoRDIdI
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (composer):
Article about him, with YouTube links of his works embedded: https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/who-was-samuel-coleridge-taylor-what-famous-for/
Library of Congress site: https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200038837/
Hiawatha Overture: https://youtu.be/pkqaSqwHlsw
Symphony in A minor, Op. 8: https://youtu.be/ojdXsj5IhJA
Video Biography: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HebDy-sLdCs
George Walker (composer, pianist, organist): http://georgetwalker.com/
“Lilacs” for voice and orchestra, which won a Pulitzer in 1996. He was the first Black composer to win the prize. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy0NwJt6uJE
Billie Holiday (singer): https://billieholiday.com/
“Best of” playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRYFRvOUrvI
Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson: (film and concert composer): https://chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/Perkinson.html
“Coleridge-Taylor Parkinson Papers” at NY Library: http://archives.nypl.org/mus/20417
Rondo from Sinfonietta No. 1 for String Orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlG-diPHVOU
Cue “The Robbery And The Chase” from Paramount’s “The education of Sonny Carson:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biUVp8usUeU
Marian Anderson (contralto singer): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Anderson
Kennedy Center audio presentation about her April 9, 1939 performance at the Lincoln Memorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFsAiGgVNeA
Video from her performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAONYTMf2pk
Schubert’s “Ave Maria”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GksRp42s3S8
Francis Johnson (composer, cornetist): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Johnson_(composer)
Playlist of some of his works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAAz56HoXj4&list=PL6F0si-B13uijoG_d56Q3dW7VGJ_8LCu2
André Watts (pianist): https://www.cmartists.com/artists/andre-watts.htm
Liszt Piano Concerto with NY Phil & Bernstein: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjsOOri_7IE
William Grant Still (composer): http://www.williamgrantstillmusic.com/
Opera – “Troubled Island”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-JyCiN3Iwg
“Africa” for orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAZByrG1dE0
W Rudolf Dunbar (conductor, clarinetist): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolph_Dunbar
Article with links to performances: https://www.kdfc.com/culture/staff-blog/open-ears/open-ears-rudolph-dunbar/
Scott Joplin (composer): https://www.scottjoplin.org/joplin-biography.html
“Best of” playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1yqBt-PkT4
Henry Lewis (bassist, conductor): https://aaregistry.org/story/henry-lewis-first-black-conductor-of-a-major-symphony-orchestra/
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-01-28-mn-29628-story.html
“The Symphony Sound”: https://youtu.be/L2jT5Uv8WHM
Louis Armstrong (trumpeter): https://www.louisarmstronghouse.org/
“Best of” Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBOoQcoPL1I
Edmund Dédé (composer, violinist): https://chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/Dede.html
“Reverie champêtre” for oboe, cello, and piano: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfBZk-E-h6A
“Chicago” for orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBeigjxviQc&list=OLAK5uy_kZ5uxmFax739OfNZ0yktVwAttq0iYpGkw
George Bridgetower (violinist): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bridgetower
Try looking for performances of the Kreutzer sonata by black violinists online. I found, I think….one. I’d have to dig it up again.
Nathaniel Dett (composer, organist, pianist): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Nathaniel_Dett
The Chariot Jubilee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTGmL7eZaCc
…Arranged by Hale Smith (composer): https://chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/Smith.html
Kendrick Lamar (rapper, songwriter, producer): http://www.kendricklamar.com/
“Damn” Album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcnNvy_svTE&list=PLUuiba6ko477n-wQKLuduf8PlNtdQ3M4x
———————
Other sites to check out:
https://www.musicbyblackcomposers.org/resources/living-composers-directory/
https://medium.com/all-the-black-dots/black-concert-trauma-5fa0459e5b3?fbclid=IwAR2bJ7hZ6-XrSqhBQuyw1SERHJlqzlsbbZtxOA8nr-I-h8uL0kw9cJKhJuc
Helen Eugenia Hagan: pianist, first woman to graduate from Yale music…played piano for troops in WW1, had a studio in NYC. Almost all music is lost/undiscovered…only piano concerto (with orchestra…in C minor) survives.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_Kay
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_conductors
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Tim_Brymn
https://www.jstor.org/stable/779503?seq=1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles-Richard_Lambert
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Robeson