Program Note on Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson's Sinfonietta No. 2, Generations

[Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932-2004): A Celebration; Chicago Sinfonietta et al.; Paul Freeman, Conductor; Cedille 90000 087 (2005)]

In preparation for San Francisco's New Century Chamber Orchestra concerts June 5-10, we present this Program Note by Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma on Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson's Sinfonietta No. 2, Generations:

Perkinson (1932-2004) was named for that Afro-British cultural hero, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) whose three visits to America in the early years of the last century that helped ignite the Harlem Renaissance. As a child, Perkinson had been a dance student of Pearl Primus, but he entered the High School of Music and Art in his native New York as a music student. Here he was mentored by the choral conductor, Hugh Ross. He graduated in 1949 and entered New York University with a major in music education, but left in 1951 to study composition at the Manhattan School of Music. During the summers of 1960, 1962, and 1963 he studied in Europe, both at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and in the Netherlands with Dean Dixon, the African American conductor who had been unable to secure a steady position in the U.S. He was co-founder of the integrated Symphony of the New World in 1965, and later its Music Director. He also held the same position with Jerome Robbins’s American Theater Lab and with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. Leaving New York, he accepted an appointment at Indiana University before becoming Coordinator of Performance Activities for Chicago’s Center for Black Music Research and conductor of the Ritz Chamber Players.

His second symphony was completed in 1996. Each of the four movements is dedicated to a family member. The first, to his daughter, is based on the B-A-C-H motif and on “Mockingbird.” The slow movement reflects on the sarabande, a dance of the past, and pays tribute to the women of his immediate family. The third movement is dedicated to his grandson, and playfully makes reference to “Li’l Brown Jug.” The finale recalls the quotations of the earlier movements and is offered to his family patriarchs.

New Century Chamber Orchestra
Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
Sinfonietta No. 2 Generations
African American Composer
Symphony of the New World
Ritz Chamber Players