|
Homepage -> Composers
Français
Composers of African Descent
Africans, African Americans & Afro-Europeans
Violin Concertos, Op. 5, Nos. 1 & 2; Op. 3,
No. 1; Op. 8, No. 9
Bernard Thomas Chamber Orchestra
Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Violin
Arion 68093 (1990)
AfriClassical Blog
is a companion to AfriClassical.com Visit often to learn
of current issues involving Black composers and musicians. For
a free subscription, leave your E-mail address in the Subscription
box in the right column of the blog's home page.
Welcome to a new world of classical music! Some
of the music at this site was famous in France in 1800, or in the
U.K. and North America in 1900, but is nearly unknown today.
Many composers
of African descent have won acclaim while alive, only to be
neglected later. The above portrait of Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges
(1745-1799) was painted in London in 1787 by the American artist Mather
Brown. To illustrate his dual careers in classical music and
fencing, the portrait shows Saint-Georges dressed to conduct an
orchestra, but holding a sword in place of a baton.
Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799) was an Afro-French
composer who was also France's best fencer. During the French Revolution
he was Colonel of a legion of Black volunteers, and fought
heroically. His works were seldom played after 1803, when Napoleon
reinstituted slavery in France's colonies. The music of
Saint-Georges was
played with increasing frequency in the late 20th century, and much
of it has been recorded since the 1970s.
José Mauricio Nunes Garcia (1767-1830)
was a Roman Catholic priest and one of several accomplished
Afro-Brazilian composers during the Portuguese colonial period.
Each of his parents was the child of an African slave and a White
plantation owner. Most of his music was liturgical; about 240
works survive. In 1817 Padre José Mauricio Nunes Garcia wrote
Brazil's first opera, Le Due Gemelle (The Two Twins), which was later
destroyed by fire.
Francis "Frank" B. Johnson (1792-1844) was a bugler, a popular band leader and
one of five African American composers of his time in Philadelphia. In
1819 he published his first work, A Collection of New Cotillions.
About 1830, Creole composers and musicians of color in New Orleans
founded the Negro Philharmonic Society, a symphony orchestra
comprised of more than 100 performers, including a few White
members. Racial hostility put an end to the Society prior to
the Civil War. Edmond Dede (1827-1903) and Charles Lucien
Lambert, Sr. (c.1828-1896) were African American members and
composers who fled New Orleans in the 1850s and made successful
careers in France and Brazil.
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) was an Afro-British composer who
wrote a blockbuster musical called Hiawatha's Wedding Feast
in 1898. It was performed 200 times in his short lifetime, and
made his name a household word on both sides of the Atlantic.
Half a century after his death, recordings of his music barely
existed.
More than 90 sound samples can be heard at the Audio page and at
pages on individual artists.
The era of the CD and a new awareness of African heritage in
classical music have resulted in a growing number of recordings.
Smaller music labels accounted for many of the early CDs, but major
labels are beginning to take part as well. Recordings are
available at stores and at Web sites such as
www.amazon.com
www.arkivmusic.com and
www.crotchet.co.uk
This Web site is designed to showcase many instrumental works and a
few choral compositions now available on CD, and to give some
biographical information about the creators of the music. The
Audio link at left leads to dozens of sound samples. This
introduction is followed
by an outline of the heritage and birthplace of each composer. A
guide to more than 300 CDs of 90 Black composers has been compiled
and is maintained by Richard Greene of Temple University:
Classical
Music Recordings of Black Composers
A more comprehensive list of composers
of color is available at this page of the website of the
Myrtle Hart Society
Composers of African Descent
I
African
A Guinea
Sancho, Ignatius (Born on slave ship
offshore)
B Nigeria
1 Akpabot, Samuel Ekpe
2 Sowande, Fela
C South Africa
1
Khumalo, James Stephen Mzilikazi
2
Moerane, Michael Mosoeu
II
African American
A Brazil
Garcia, José Mauricio Nunes
B Canada
Dett, R. Nathaniel
C Cuba
1 Brouwer, Leo
2 Leon, Tania Justina
3 Roldan, Amadeo
4 White, José Silvestre
D Guadeloupe
1 Pradel, Alain Pierre
2 Saint-Georges, Le Chevalier
de
E Haiti
1 Elie, Justin
2 Jeanty, Occide
3 Lamothe, Ludovic
4 Racine,
Julio
F Jamaica
Alberga, Eleanor
G United States
1 Adams, H. Leslie
2 Bonds, Margaret
Allison
3
Burleigh, Henry Thacker
4
Cunningham, Arthur - U.S.
5
Dawson, William Levi - U.S.
6
Dede, Edmond - U.S.
7 Ellington,
Edward Kennedy "Duke"
8 Hailstork, Adolphus
Cunningham
9 Holland, Justin
10 Johnson, James
Price
11 Joplin, Scott
12 Kay, Ulysses
Simpson
13 Lambert,
Charles Lucien, Sr.
14 Perkinson,
Coleridge-Taylor
15
Price, Florence Beatrice
16 Smith, Hale
17
Smith, Irene Britton
18
Still, William
Grant
19 Walker, George Theophilus
20
Williams, Julius Penson
III
Afro-European
A France
Lambert,
Lucien-Leon Guillaume., Jr.
B United Kingdom
Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel
Women Composers of African Descent
A Cuba
Leon, Tania Justina
B Jamaica
Alberga, Eleanor
C United States
1 Bonds, Margaret Allison
2
Price, Florence Beatrice
3 Smith, Irene Britton
Birthplaces of
Composers
A
Brazil
Nunes Garcia, José Mauricio - Rio de Janeiro
B
Canada
Dett, R. Nathaniel - Drummondville, Ontario
C
Cuba
1 Brouwer, Leo - Havana
2 Leon, Tania - Havana
3 White, José Silvestre - Matanzas
D
France
1 Lambert Jr., Lucien-Leon Guillaume - Paris
2 Roldan, Amadeo - Paris
E
Guadeloupe
1 Pradel, Alain Pierre
2 Saint-Georges, Le Chevalier de
F
Haiti
1 Elie, Justin - Port-au-Prince
2 Jeanty, Occide
3 Lamothe, Ludovic - Port-au-Prince
4 Racine, Julio - Port-au-Prince
G
Jamaica
Alberga, Eleanor - Kingston, Jamaica
H
Nigeria
1 Akpabot, Samuel Ekpe - Uyo, Akwa Ibom State
2 Sowande, Fela - Oyo
I
South Africa
1 Khumalo, James Stephen Mzilikazi - KwaNgwelu
2 Moerane, Michael Mosoeu - Mount Fletcher
J
United Kingdom
1 Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel - Croydon, England
2 Sancho, Ignatius (on slave ship)
K
United States
1 Alabama
Dawson, William Levi - Anniston
2 Arizona
Kay, Ulysses Simpson - Tucson
3 Arkansas
Price, Florence Beatrice Smith - Little
Rock
4 Illinois
a Bonds, Margaret Allison - Chicago
b Smith, Irene
Britton - Chicago
5 Louisiana
a Dede, Edmond - New Orleans
b Lambert, Charles Lucien, Sr. - New
Orleans
6 Mississippi
Still, William Grant - Woodville
7 New Jersey
Johnson, James Price - New Brunswick
8 New York
a Cunningham, Arthur - Piermont,
New York
b Hailstork, Adolphus
Cunningham - Rochester
c Perkinson, Coleridge-Taylor
- New York City
d Williams, Julius Penson -
New York City
9 Ohio
a Adams, H. Leslie - Cleveland
b Smith, Hale - Cleveland
10 Pennsylvania
Burleigh, Henry Thacker - Erie
11 Texas
Joplin, Scott
12 Virginia
Holland, Justin
13 Washington, D.C.
a Ellington, Edward Kennedy "Duke"
b Walker, George Theophilus
This page was last updated on
March 5, 2022 |
