Thursday, August 9, 2012

'A Videographic Register of Black Music and Musicians' by Dominique-René de Lerma, Available from William Grant Still Music

A VIDEOGRAPHIC REGISTER OF BLACK MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
by
Dominiqué-René de Lerma
La Casa Musicale de Lerma

Exclusively Available From
WILLIAM GRANT STILL MUSIC
Flagstaff, Arizona

Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma, http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com, is the author of a vast number of publications, including The Bibliography of Black Music, Vol. 1 (1981); Vol. 2 (1982); Vol. 3 (1983); and Vol. 4 (1984); Greenwood Press.  

Sam Dennison writes in American Music, v6n2 (Summer 1988), p. 246: 

De Lerma deserves our unfettered admiration and respect... Meriting the enthusiastic praise of the forewords to these four volumes, he has given us something beyond the great value of his works: he has revealed to us, the musicologists of America, our own shortcomings in providing leadership and in producing meaningful research.

Prof. De Lerma writes on P. 1 of A Videographic Register of Black Music and Musicians:


During my period on the faculty of Morgan State University (1975-1990), I held a graduate seminar on Black music on film.  The materials were primarily within the holdings of Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Library.  In the course, we discovered the riches, not only of performances, but of the significance of this aspect of the iconography as well as the social environment when the film was made.

The first page also includes:

A tribute to Suzanne Flandreau
The original archivist and librarian of the CENTER FOR BLACK MUSIC RESEARCH, from 1990 to her retirement on 1 September 2012...


Dominique-René de Lerma
Dr. de Lerma's 60 year career in higher education includes extended tenured periods as professor on the faculties of Morgan State University, the Peabody Conservatory, Indiana University, University of Miami, Lawrence University, and resident guest professorships at Virginia State University, Fisk University, Kent State University, Oberlin Conservatory, and Northwestern University.  For three years he was administrator at the Center for Black Music Research in Chicago.  


The Videography extends from p. 7 to p. 92, and is followed by a List of Names. Research is simple and straightforward.  If a search is made for entries on William Grant Still, the findings include Gunsmoke, music for the television series; The Lost Horizon (1937), a film with music of Hall Johnson, the Hall Johnson Choir, and William Grant Still; and the film Pennies from Heaven (1936).

The name of George Walker appears in From These Roots (1986), produced by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.  A search for Tania León produces Dance Theater of Harlem (1977).  As with The Bibliography of Black Music, the latest music resource from Dominique-René de Lerma provides quick access to information which will serve the needs of countless users for years to come. 

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