Black classical KS3/4/5 composers

Jonathan James

Introduction This resource has been inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and the stimulus of recent events for cultural discussion in the classroom. Black composers have been notoriously overlooked in the history of Western classical music. It’s telling that the earlier Black composers who achieved wider recognition were either given epithets bound to white composers – for example the ‘Black Mozart’ (Chevalier de Saint-Georges) or the ‘African Mahler’ (Samuel Coleridge-Taylor) – or feature mainly Jonathan James is a freelance through their encounters with the ‘greats’ (eg Bridgetower and Beethoven). music educator and conductor, This resource focuses on the life and work of six Black composers from the 1700s to the present and was previously a head of music day, with the objective of prompting wider listening and a discussion of cultural prejudice. It makes in the post-16 sector. He leads a good partner project to the discussion of female composers (see Music Teacher, November 2017) workshops for orchestras and and the question of why a white male bias in Western art music has been allowed to exist for so long, presents in venues across the UK. particularly when other musical genres have welcomed diversity. The composers featured in this resource range from the Classical period to the present day: Ɂ Chevalier de Saint-Georges (Joseph Bologne) Ɂ George Bridgetower Ɂ Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Ɂ Florence Price Ɂ William Grant Still Ɂ Nkeiru Okoye

There are very many Black composers to focus on, particularly in the 20th and 21st centuries, but the composers above created works where there are clear influences to be identified and where comparisons to set-works could readily be made. Some of the music they produced is on the Spotify playlist (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2DXV7GjPh6oyMlYqwNJPIh?si=1qvgKugCRF- SRP7EmSiotA) that accompanies this resource.

Addressing potential contentions We cannot be naive to the sensitivities of discussing diversity. As teachers, we’d probably be wise to address potentially contentious issues openly and right from the start. The two questions that typically present themselves are around issues of tokenism and merit. Are we belittling the cause by mentioning a few Black names before quickly moving onto the next Beethoven symphony? And what if their music isn’t any good? Isn’t that then just positive discrimination? It is not tokenistic to devote a series of lessons to exploring a part of musical history when the alternative may have been to neglect it altogether, and when the exploration itself opens up longer- lasting debate on cultural issues and the importance of widening our historical lens. Such discussions are timely and deeply relevant. There’s debate as to the capitalisation of Black as an Nor is it our role in this context – nor in this resource – to talk about the merit or quality of any adjective of race: many people particular work when value judgements of that kind are discouraged in other areas in the specifications. prefer it capitalised, so we’ve Rather, the emphasis is on redressing an imbalance and diversifying students’ listening experiences, so decided to do that. that any such comparison would, in any case, be colour-blind.

www.musicteachermagazine.co.uk MUSIC TEACHER F October 2020 F 1 Black classical composers KS3/4/5

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799) Chevalier de Saint-Georges is the aristocratic title adopted by Joseph Bologne when he graduated from the military academy in . ‘Chevalier’ is the French equivalent of ‘Sir’, and Bologne then took the suffix to his father’s surname – Saint-Georges – as his moniker. Saint-Georges had many things going for him. He was rich, of aristocratic stock and formidably good-looking, a prodigious athlete, a virtuoso violinist and a composer. The stuff, in other words, of living legend. This perhaps explains why he was able to succeed as a person of mixed race in Parisian society, which was, like almost all Western society in this period, conservative and racist. And it also points to why, aside from issues of colour, his musical talent has not historically been taken seriously. His composing ability was deemed just another feather in a peacock display. He was born to George Bologne Saint-Georges, a plantation- owner in Guadeloupe who had an affair with one of his African slaves, Nanon. Rather than abandoning his charges, George took the mother and son to Paris and enrolled the boy in a prestigious military school when he was a teenager. It was there that Saint-Georges first showed his prowess as a fencer, a sport he was to excel at. He was ambidextrous and had ‘the speed of lightening’, according to his trainers. As a champion fencer and the darling of the court – his exoticism enchanted the entourage there – he was appointed music tutor to Queen Marie Antoinette. So, by his 20s, he was both a celebrity and a curiosity. When you came to watch Saint-Georges in action, you would be treated to both a stunning display of swordsmanship and a violin recital. It was a unique and intoxicating combination. As an extension of his royal duties, Saint-Georges led and then conducted Paris’s main orchestra, performing his own works as violin soloist. Within two years of his musical leadership, he had transformed it into an enviable ensemble that gave the premiere performances of ’s Paris symphonies. The success of this ensemble under Saint-Georges’s musical leadership should have been enough to assure him of the much-coveted position conducting the Paris Opera. For anybody else, it would have been a shoo-in. And yet several leading ladies there petitioned the Queen to bar him from the post, saying they could not take orders from someone of his cultural heritage. Saint-Georges was therefore refused the role, and this would be the first of several discriminatory acts. Teachers should be aware when discussing these issues that original sources contain ethnic slurs that were common to the period, but which might cause offence in a lesson. After the Revolution of 1789 he was imprisoned and faced execution, a sentence that was eventually commuted. It was here and in his final years before his death aged 53 that he turned back to his childhood love of the violin and composing. Music was his last solace. Many of his compositions were lost in the Revolution, but those that survive include three sets of string quartets, two symphonies, eight symphonie-concertantes (a new Parisian genre he championed), six comic operas, three violin sonatas, and 14 violin concertos.

Quick dip: Violin Concerto No. 9 in G The first movement to the Concerto https://open.spotify.com/track/0BwAWPuaYyC8JUub( DQHMir?si=K-BgHsrtRcGJTsMj9ime2Q) is a bracing Allegro with a long orchestral statement before the soloist enters. You can imagine the dashing Chevalier in the soloist’s role here. The style is energetic, athletic even, but tempered with elegance. The emphasis is less on harmonic or motivic development and more on technical brilliance, as befits the concerto style. The overall assurance of the writing and the idiomatic treatment of the violin is striking, and you can see why Mozart had reason to be envious of Saint-Georges’s dominance in the world of Parisian court music.

In the specifications Saint-Georges’s music would fit into these areas of study: Ɂ AQA GCSE AoS1 Western classical tradition 1650-1910 Ɂ AQA A level AoS1 Western classical tradition 1650-1910 Ɂ Edexcel GCSE AoS1 Instrumental music 1700-1820 Ɂ Edexcel A level AoS2 Instrumental music Ɂ OCR GCSE AoS2: The concerto through time Ɂ Eduqas A level AoS1: Western classical tradition www.musicteachermagazine.co.uk MUSIC TEACHER F October 2020 F 2 Black classical composers KS3/4/5

George Bridgetower (1778-1860) George Bridgetower, like Saint-Georges and other composers of the day, first attracted interest as a soloist. He was a child prodigy on the violin who was paraded before George IV and an adoring public aged just ten. The King was so impressed by the young virtuoso that he paid for his musical education, and Bridgetower spent most of his adult life in . Bridgetower composed very little. His colourful life story, though, is good for the classroom, and his inclusion in this resource reflects what an inspiration he was in his day and how that has been subsequently forgotten in musical history. Bridgetower’s father was from and his mother was German-Polish. Both served in Royal courts, including the Esterházy estate where Haydn was court composer. His father claimed to be an African prince and baptised George ‘Hieronimo Hyppolito de Augusto’, clearly intending his son for greatness. Sadly, after his early flourishing, Bridgetower developed arthritis in his fingers, depriving him of his playing, and died in a home for the destitute in Peckham.

A review in the Bath Chronicle of 1789 of the 11-year-old prodigy: ‘The young African Prince, whose musical talents have been so much celebrated, had a more crowded and splendid concert on Sunday morning than has ever been known in this place. There were upwards of 550 persons present, and they were gratified by such skills on the violin as created general astonishment, as well as pleasure from the boy wonder. The father was in the gallery, and so affected by the applause bestowed on his son, that tears of pleasure and gratitude flowed in profusion.’

The Kreutzer saga After his early days touring England, Germany and France as a soloist, Bridgewater was invited to perform for Beethoven in 1802 and so impressed him that the master dedicated his Violin Sonata No. 9 to him. Beethoven’s dedication to Bridgetower on the work is enthusiastic, and no doubt intended in good faith, but contains dated racial terms that would be considered offensive today. Bridgetower fell out with Beethoven afterwards as a result of an ill-chosen joke at the expense of Partly a result of his tours, one Beethoven’s lady-friends. Beethoven was so offended (a not uncommon occurrence) that he Bridgetower was said to be fluent in rededicated the sonata to . Kreutzer was unhappy with the second-hand dedication English, French, German and Polish. and famously never played the piece. Bridgetower’s talent was rewarded with membership to the Royal Society of Musicians, and he later gained a bachelor’s degree in music from Trinity Hall, Cambridge. See this short video by Quick dip: Jubilee Variations Cambridge students celebrating Bridgetower wrote relatively little, and it’s hard to find recordings of his work, let alone live his life (www.youtube.com/ performances. One snippet is this variation on the English national anthem (www.youtube.com/ watch?v=4sLTnaoRHMs&list= watch?v=kmiuh_OL2Zg), which no doubt delighted his royal patron. The florid first violin part RD4sLTnaoRHMs&start_ gives a sense of how polished and virtuosic Bridgetower’s playing would have been. radio=1).

In the specifications Bridgetower’s music would fit into these areas of study: Ɂ AQA GCSE AoS1 Western classical tradition 1650-1910 Ɂ AQA A level AoS1 Western classical tradition 1650-1910 Ɂ Edexcel GCSE AoS1 Instrumental music 1700-1820 Ɂ Edexcel A level AoS2 Instrumental music Ɂ Eduqas A level AoS1: Western classical tradition

www.musicteachermagazine.co.uk MUSIC TEACHER F October 2020 F 3 Black classical composers KS3/4/5

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) Samuel Taylor’s father was a doctor from Sierra Leone. His mother, an Englishwoman, added the ‘Coleridge’ in homage to the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Having showed early flair, Coleridge-Taylor won a place to study violin at London’s Royal College of Music. It must have taken quite some resilience and bravery to study there, given how few students of colour there were. The epitaph on his The Wedding Feast music sold tombstone commends ‘his happy courage in an alien world’. many copies, but Coleridge-Taylor His interests soon turned to conducting and composing while never benefited, having sold it to the at the RCM, leading to studies under the famous Charles Villiers publisher for a handful of guineas. Stanford, who later conducted the premiere of Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast (1898), Coleridge-Taylor’s most famous work. After he left college, Coleridge-Taylor’s composing career was given an early boost by Edward Elgar, who called him ‘far and away the cleverest fellow among the younger men’. Coleridge-Taylor enjoyed a brief, intense period of fame during three tours of America, where he was controversially invited to the White House to have his music performed before President Roosevelt. The American public were initially more enthusiastic about his work than the British, in part due to his advocacy of the anti-slavery movement. Such was his involvement in the USA with prominent poets, artists and the musical establishment that he seriously considered moving there. His success abroad solicited more interest in the UK, however, and when he died tragically young, aged just 37, he was given a memorial concert in the Royal Albert Hall. Inspired by how Brahms and Dvořák incorporated Hungarian, Bohemian and Native American folk music idioms into their work, Coleridge-Taylor explored how he might do the same, openly reflecting his Creole and African heritage in pieces such as Symphonic Variations on an African Air, The Bamboula, Twenty-Four Negro Melodies and the above-mentioned cantata based on Longfellow’s poem, Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast. An obvious comparison to make is between these African-themed works and the ‘American’ works of Coleridge-Taylor was so enamoured Dvořák from his time in New York, including the American Quartet and the New World Symphony. Both with the tale that he called his son composers skilfully blend European symphonic traditions with African melodic ideas, either imagined or Hiawatha. quoted.

Quick dip: Symphonic Variations on an African Air After an arresting roll on the timpani, the pentatonic shape of the spiritual on which the variations are based immediately becomes apparent. The imagination with which the variations proceed is really striking, particularly in the orchestration. In the first five minutes alone, there is restrained chamber writing for both strings and woodwind, set against flutters of harp and percussion. Throughout there is a lyrical touch, particularly in the writing for violin, Coleridge-Taylor’s own instrument. The composer Arthur Sullivan was suitably impressed, remarking ‘he has melody and harmony in abundance, and his scoring is brilliant and full of colour – at times luscious, rich and sensual’.

In the specifications Coleridge-Taylor’s music would fit into these areas of study: Ɂ AQA GCSE AoS1 Western classical tradition 1650-1910 Ɂ AQA A level AoS1 Western classical tradition 1650-1910 Ɂ Edexcel GCSE AoS2 Vocal music Ɂ Edexcel A level AoS1 Vocal music Ɂ Edexcel A level AoS2 Instrumental music Ɂ OCR A level AoS5 Programme music 1820-1910 Ɂ Eduqas A level AoS1: Western classical tradition

www.musicteachermagazine.co.uk MUSIC TEACHER F October 2020 F 4 Black classical composers KS3/4/5

Florence Price (1887-1953) Towards the end of her life, Florence Price acknowledged her career could have been very different were it not for two things: her sex and her mixed-race ethnicity. In 1943 she wrote to the famous conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra: ‘My dear Dr Koussevitzky, To begin with I have two handicaps – those of sex and race. I am a woman; and I have some Negro blood in my veins.’ Despite such setbacks, her life contained many firsts. She was the first African-American woman to gain recognition as a symphony Price told the conservatoire composer, and the first to have a major work (her Symphony in admissions department she was E minor) performed by an American orchestra. Prior to that, she Mexican, for fear of prejudice was the first African-American from her area to make it into the against her African roots. prestigious New England Conservatory in Boston. Where she grew up in Arkansas, lynchings were still rife. She started by writing short compositions mainly for children before trying her hand at symphonies. Four symphonies were sketched in the end, two of which made it to the stage, although they are now largely ignored in the concert hall. Interestingly, the criticism that they are too derivative of Dvořák’s American style was not applied to her male contemporary, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. The Symphony in E minor (the same key as the New World Symphony), premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1933, was the best received. The Chicago Tribune reviewed it warmly: ‘It is a faultless work, a work that speaks its own message with restraint and yet with passion… worthy of a place in the regular symphonic repertory.’ Despite the boost to her profile that premiere gave, she was unable to make headway in the musical establishment. It was the era of Jim Crow, segregation and sexism. That did not prevent her, however, from continuing to write, and she ended up producing over 300 works including symphonies, piano concertos, art songs, organ pieces and chamber works. Her religion was very important to her, and many of her works are shaped by the sounds of African spirituals and gospel music. Her religious songs were performed alongside songs from the main repertoire of German Lieder composers, whereas her orchestral music, on the rare occasions it was performed, was presented just in concerts dedicated to Black composers. It was as if the pieces themselves could not rub shoulders with the standard repertoire. Chicago, her adopted home city, did however recognise her contribution, and named an elementary school after her.

Quick dip: Symphony No. 4 in D minor, third movement The Juba dance originated in Haiti and was introduced to mainland America by slaves. It is a hearty dance, apparently with plenty of slapping and stamping. Some of this heartiness comes across in Price’s music, which has a jazzy flavour. The movement sounds like a medley of dances, including one that glides gently to a tambourine accompaniment, but there’s a thread provided by the opening pentatonic motif that holds it all together. It has a fun, exuberant finish.

In the specifications Price’s music would fit into these areas of study: Ɂ AQA GCSE AoS4 Western classical tradition since 1910 Ɂ AQA A level AoS7 Art music since 1910 Ɂ Edexcel GCSE AoS2 Vocal music Ɂ Edexcel A level AoS1 Vocal music Ɂ Edexcel A level AoS2 Instrumental music Ɂ OCR GCSE AoS2 The concerto through time Ɂ OCR A level AoS6 Innovations in music 1900 to the present day Ɂ Eduqas A level AoS1: Western classical tradition Ɂ Eduqas A level AoS5: Into the 20th century

www.musicteachermagazine.co.uk MUSIC TEACHER F October 2020 F 5 Black classical composers KS3/4/5

William Grant Still (1895-1978) The theme and apparent imperative of writing music that directly flows from African-American heritage was continued by William Grant Still. The first movement to his First Symphony, for example, is based on the 12-bar blues. Called the Afro-American Symphony, it was performed by the New York Philharmonic in 1953, 20 years after Florence Price had paved the way in Chicago. Still was one of the most decorated composers of his day, being awarded three Guggenheim fellowships and nine honorary doctorates – which explains why he was nicknamed the ‘Dean’ of African-American composers. His works – around 200 in total – ranged from jazz arrangements to serious opera. Troubled Island (1939) was the first opera by a Black composer to be performed by a major opera company (New York City Opera). He also had the distinction of conducting his own works with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. Still started his career after World War One as a pit musician and jazz arranger. A dapper figure and adept networker, he reputedly played clarinet, oboe, saxophone, viola, cello and double bass – an impressive foundation for any composer. His instincts for popular music are often on display in his music, like his contemporary Gershwin and film composers Tomkin and Steiner. Throughout his career, Still regularly wrote about the challenges facing America’s Black citizens in contemporary society. Such were the policies of segregation that he was barred from attending the premiere of a film for which he had written the music, having to wait instead for a separately organised event. Still’s acceptance into the mainstream is as much testimony to his sheer determination as it is to his prowess as an all-round musician.

Quick dip: Symphony No.1 Afro-American Titled ‘Longing’, the first movement starts with bluesy strains on solo cor anglais, muted trumpet and clarinet. The flutes have short riffs while the strings ‘swing’ an accompaniment below over a solid tread in the bass. It has all the trappings of a symphonic 12-bar blues. The form is soon superseded by memories of songs his grandmother sang him as a child, then more vigorous dance ideas. It is a colourful collage, arranged loosely in sonata form.

In the specifications Still’s music would fit into these areas of study: Ɂ AQA GCSE AoS4 Western classical tradition since 1910 Ɂ AQA A level AoS7 Art music since 1910 Ɂ Edexcel GCSE AoS2 Vocal music Ɂ Edexcel A level AoS1 Vocal music Ɂ Edexcel A level AoS2 Instrumental music Ɂ OCR A level AoS6 Innovations in music 1900 to the present day Ɂ Eduqas A level AoS1: Western classical tradition Ɂ Eduqas A level AoS5: Into the 20th century

www.musicteachermagazine.co.uk MUSIC TEACHER F October 2020 F 6 Black classical composers KS3/4/5

Nkeiru Okoye (b1972) Our final composer brings us to the present day. Nkeiru Okoye (pronounced ‘in-KEAR-oo oh-KOY-yeh’) writes mainly for musical theatre and opera, and her songs are now so core to the contemporary repertoire that they are included on the school curriculum in the USA. In her own words, she ‘specialises in works that celebrate the African American experience’. Born in New York to an African-American mother and Nigerian father, Okoye was classically trained and holds a PhD in composition. Her style fuses light opera (Gilbert and Sullivan, surprisingly, and Sondheim) with Black popular styles such as R&B and Gospel, as well as influences of Copland and Schoenberg. Her most popular piece, Voices Shouting Out, features funk lines based on a tone row. Although best known for her vocal works, she also writes for symphony orchestra and the concert platform. Her latest symphonic work, Black Bottom, was commissioned by Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 2020 and depicts the travails of a Black neighbourhood when it is disrupted and displaced by the building of a large highway. She based her music on archive photos and recordings of conversations from local shops and gatherings, capturing speech rhythms and brief glimpses into intimate worlds. Asked about her experience of being an African-American composer, she writes: ‘Composing is an expression of what’s inside me. I do not set out to make my works sound like “Black composer music”, if such a thing can be defined, but rather to create a work that satisfies my ears and will hopefully touch an audience. At the same time, if by my doing so, people are educated about African American culture, and people who usually do not come to the concert hall will give “classical music” a chance, then a good thing has been accomplished.’ Aptly enough, the name ‘Nkeiru’, from the Nigerian language Igbo, means ‘the future is great’.

Quick dip: Voices Shouting Out This short piece (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8U1ZnSi7sY) was written in response to the 9/11 tragedy. Rather than expressing grief, it is a call to unity and represents, according to Okoye, a ‘sparkling celebration of life for those who continue living’. That optimism is immediately tangible in the bubbling percussion that launches the work. The rhythms are syncopated and funky, with clear unison short phrases. This rhythmic language is interspersed with gentler, cheerful episodes led by woodwind solos and string quartet. It is a really accessible work that would work brilliantly in the classroom.

In the specifications Okoye’s music would fit into these areas of study: Ɂ AQA GCSE AoS4 Western classical tradition since 1910 Ɂ AQA A level AoS7 Art music since 1910 Ɂ Edexcel GCSE AoS2 Vocal music Ɂ Edexcel A level AoS1 Vocal music Ɂ Edexcel A level AoS2 Instrumental music Ɂ OCR A level AoS6 Innovations in music 1900 to the present day Ɂ Eduqas A level AoS1: Western classical tradition Ɂ Eduqas A level AoS5: Into the 20th century

Conclusion These six names represent just a narrow snapshot of a much wider and more complex picture. Other key Black composers whose music would appeal in the classroom include: Ɂ Scott Joplin, for the influence his rags had on generations of classical composers to come. Ɂ Margaret Bonds, who wrote several hard-hitting works of music theatre. Ɂ George Walker, the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Ɂ Julius Eastman, a minimalist and polemicist.

The discussion could then broaden to encompass jazz and other popular genres, where Black talent has been more readily celebrated – and arguably exploited, in some cases. However you use this resource, it is meant as a beginning and not an end. www.musicteachermagazine.co.uk MUSIC TEACHER F October 2020 F 7