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Overview

A conversation on the subject of Black and brown composers, musicians, and conductors in classical music doesn't usually spark a lively exchange about the latest concerts, published books, or recorded works. More often than not, the reaction is silence or a brief reply, which is not to say that conductors and artists around the world are not performing orchestral commissions and compositions. If the topic of Black and brown musicians comes up, some people will probably think of Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, or maybe James Brown or Public Enemy. But few will think of Francis (Frank) Johnson or William Grant Still or a host of other Black American classical composers. However, several semesters would not be enough to cover the wealth of material produced by classical musicians of the African diaspora. So, what happened to these African American composers, musicians, and conductors who contributed to the classical music traditions of America?

Be ready to:

Identify the lives of notable Black classical composers, conductors, and musical performers.

Demonstrate the concept of the linkage between the music of the "old guard"-musicians of yesteryear-and their impact on the contemporary Black classical musicians and compositions.

Describe the importance of Slave Songs of the United States and Music and Some Highly Musical People to the development of the survey of American music history.

List a few important African American classical singers who were strategic to the early development of establishing the bar for singers of the twentieth century.

Identify classical singers who were influential upon concert life in Black America during the first half of the twentieth century.

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References

The Old Guard (1863-1900): Post-Emancipation

Photograph of a reproduction of the Emancipation Proclamation

In the transition to the post-emancipation era, we encounter the Emancipation Proclamation, which was an order issued by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, to free the slaves. It proclaimed the freedom of slaves in the ten states then in rebellion, applying to 3.1 million of the 4 million slaves in the United States at that time. The Proclamation immediately freed 50,000 slaves, with nearly all of the rest of the 3.1 million freed as Union armies advanced. The Proclamation did not compensate the owners, outlaw slavery, or grant ex-slaves, called "freedmen," citizenship.

It was not until the passing of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution that we find that all Black men were given the right to vote along with abolishing slavery and granting citizenship to all. From a musical perspective, the Emancipation Proclamation gave to the freed slave a bright hope in the future to pursue their academic dreams in the creative and musical arts.

The selective list below from Black Past shows another generation of composers who would "exert considerable influence upon concert life in Black America during the first half of the twentieth century" (Wright 2015, 143).

Select on any of the links below and hear a soundtrack specially chosen to enhance learning about any of the musicians listed while reading about their life and career. Let the music play in the background while reading the information-the websites for Clarence Cameron White, Shirley Graham, or Edward Boatner do not contain music:

Harry T. Burleigh (1866-1949)	Will Marion Cook (1869-1944)	Harry L. Freeman (1870-1954)	John Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954)

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Clarence Cameron White (1880-1960)	R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943)	Francis Hall Johnson (1888-1970)	Florence Price (1888-1953)

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Eva Jessye (1895-1992)	William Grant Still (1895-1978)	Shirley Graham (1896-1977)	Edward Boatner (1898-1981)

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William Levi Dawson (1898-1990)	John Wesley Work III (1901-1967)

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Each musician above went on to receive some form of university or conservatory training at the undergraduate level; others went on to obtain advance degrees and yet still a few went to Europe to be trained under prestigious faculty (Wright 2015, 144). From this list of musicians who were born during the post-Emancipation era, this lesson will explore the musical legacies of Harry T. Burleigh, William Grant Still, Florence Price, and R. Nathaniel Dett.

Reese Europe

In my opinion, there never was any such music as "ragtime." "Ragtime" is merely a nickname, or rather a fun name given to Negro rhythm by our Caucasian brother musicians many years ago.

James H. Dorman

[T]he coon song "was a manifestation of a peculiar form of the will to believe - to believe in the signified 'coon' as represented in the songs - as a necessary socio-psychological mechanism for justifying segregation and subordination."