Generating page narration, please wait...

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.

Discover Music

Discover Video

Keywords

Listening Guides

References

Vocal Music from a Nightingale: Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield

The first African American classical singer of the nineteenth century who established the bar for all singers to follow could arguably be Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield (c. 1819-1876), also dubbed the "Black Swan" because of her "full, round sound … and immense compass and depth" (Trotter 2009 [1878], 71). "Born a slave in Natchez, Mississippi, she was taken to Philadelphia as an infant, where she was adopted by a Quaker, Mrs. Greenfield. Elizabeth's guardian arranged for her to study music as a child, despite the Society of Friends' ban on musical pursuits and allowed her to sing at private parties. Greenfield made her debut in 1851, singing before the Buffalo Musical Association and thereby establishing her reputation as an artist" (Wright 2015, 103). Traveling and performing extensively in the United States and Europe, Greenfield laid the groundwork that made it easier for the African American sopranos that came after her. No recordings of Greenfield exist. Other notable sopranos of this period would include Nellie Brown Mitchell (1845-1924), Marie Selika Williams (c. 1849-1937), and Matilda Sissieretta Jones(c. 1868-1933) known as the "Black Patti."

Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield (c. 1819-1876)

Another important source for information on this topic is Sonja Wilson's dissertation on concert singers of the nineteenth century, which has a chapter titled "Not All Nightingales Are White" (Gable Wilson 2005, 28).

Eileen Southern

The Black musician has created an entirely new music-in a style peculiarly Afro-American-that today spreads its influence over the entire world. And ever since his arrival in the New World, he has enriched with his contributions the European-based musical traditions of the nation.

William C. Banfield

Can you imagine American music without the work of Black composers or without Black music in general? Still, there is a refusal, a denial, of that reality.