Saturday, April 19, 2008

Chamber Works of Three African Americans at Richmond Music Festival May 2


[Deep River: Songs and Spirituals; Henry Thacker Burleigh, composer; Oral Moses, bass-baritone; Ann Sears, piano; Troy 332 (1999)]

Henry T. Burleigh (1866-1949), R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943) and William Grant Still (1895-1978) are African American composers who are profiled at AfriClassical.com Their works will be heard at Virginia's Richmond Music Festival,
Friday, May 2 – 8 p.m.
Bon Air Presbyterian Church
Concert: American Mosaic
(Recital by 2008 Chamber Music Workshop participants – 7pm)

In the Southland, Henry T. Burleigh
Gamin, William Grant Still
El Bolero, Charles C. Perkins
In the Southland, Henry T. Burleigh

Cello Sonata (2007), John Hilliard
In the Bottoms, R. Nathaniel Dett
Las Sombras de los Apus, Gabriela Lena Frank
A Selection of Songs, George Gershwin

This concert was brought to our attention by Clarke Bustard, who writes Letter V: The Virginia Classical Music Blog. We were not familiar with Gamin, so we turned to “International Opus: Musical Diversity For A New Millenium”:
William Grant Still — Mother and Child/Gamin
Alexa Still’s arrangement of two movements from the Suite for Violin is a wonderful addition to the solo flute repertoire. Mother and Child is lyrical, sustained and expressive, employing the singing qualities of all of the flute’s ranges and is reminiscent of both spirituals and Debussy. Gamin is a rhythmic, humorous and jazzy piece which contrasts the previous movement and challenges the flutist technically. Recorded by Alexa Still on Koch International Classics [3-7192-2H1 (1994)].








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