Sunday, August 8, 2010

Researching Sheet Music for Cello and Bass by Composers of African Descent


[Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson Conducting the New Black Music Repertory Ensemble. Photo courtesy of the Center for Black Music Research, Columbia College, Chicago]

The Guest Book at AfriClassical.com has received an entry from Dr. Kenneth Slavett. On Saturday, 8/7/10 he wrote: “I am the cello and bass instructor at Hampton University in Virginia. I am interested in finding material written for cello or bass to be performed by my students. I found your web site very enjoyable and informative about Afro-American composers. From: Williamsburg, VA”

The following are just a few examples of works for cello or bass, taken from the many Works Lists at AfriClassical.com which have been compiled over the past four decades by Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma of Lawrence University Conservatory.

Works List for Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson:
Lamentations; Black folksong suite, for violoncello (1973). New York: Tosci Music. 1. Fuging tune; 2. Song form; 3. Calvary ostinato; 4. Perpetual motion. Première [partial]: 1973/VI/5; New York, Alice Tully Hall; Ronald Lipscomb, cello.

Works List for William Grant Still:
Lyric suite, string quartet (1960). Mission Viejo CA: WGS Music.
Pages from a mother's diary, for orchestra. Instrumentation: 2222 (p bcl), 4330, timp, 2 perc, cel, harp, strings. Première: 1954/I/08; Santa Clara County Symphonette; Edward Azhderian, conductor. Duration: 14:30.
Sahdji, for dancers, bass, SATB & orchestra, in 1 scene (1930). New York: Carl Fischer. Scenario: Richard Bruce Nugent [pseud. Richard Bruce] and Alain Locke. Instrumentation: 2222 (2p) Eh Ebcl bcl, 4221, timp, 3 perc, strings. Première: 1931/V/22; Rochester; Eastman Theatre; Thelma Biracree, solo dancer; Howard Hanson, conductor. Dedication: Howard Hanson. Duration: 45:00. Library: Columbia (incomplete lead sheet, 2p.), Library of Congress (LC 65-80155/M), Yale (manuscript).

A very informative source for sheet music of William Grant Still is:
William Grant Still Music, http://www.williamgrantstill.com An example of sheet music for cello is:
Summerland, An excerpt from THREE VISIONS for piano. Arrangements of this piece are also available for cello and piano, for organ, for 2 pianos, for str. quartet, and for orchestra. Publisher: WGSM.






Comments by email:

My Fantasia for Cello and Piano is an earlier work, but which your inquirer might find interesting. He should look up our listing at http://africarts.org/AMP/ FredO (Dr. Fred Onovwerosuoke, African Musical Arts, Inc.)

...

I have some information for Dr. Slavett that I can forward to him on cello music of black composers...TWH (Dr. Timothy W. Holley, Assistant Professor of Music, North Carolina Central University)

...

“Blues Impromptu for Solo Cello” by Gary Powell Nash on a CD “Music from Mt. San Angelo,” produced by the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts is an absolutely splendid work.

Regards, Mike (Michael S. Wright, ISAAM)

1 comment:

  1. Hi Mike,
    Thanks! I have just been searching for info about this topic for a while and yours is the best I have found out so far.

    isolering

    ReplyDelete