The Musicologist-YouTube.mov (8:08)
CORRECTION
Dominique-René de Lerma notes that Arthur Randolph LaBrew is 83
CORRECTION
Dominique-René de Lerma notes that Arthur Randolph LaBrew is 83
On 18 January 1930, Arthur LaBrew was
born in Detroit, a city whose history would be incomplete were it not for his
research. He studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, graduating in 1952
with honors, having studied piano, organ, chamber music, and voice. He
followed this with enrollment in New York at the Manhattan School of Music.
This proved significant for several reasons. For one, here was where he met
Coleridge Taylor Perkinson and Noel DaCosta, both becoming life-long friends
and major figures in music in their own right. But he fell under the influence
of Gustave Reese, a leading figure in the first generation of American-born
musicologists, who had recently published two classic volumes, one on music of
the Middle Ages, followed by the first major study in English of the Renaissance.
Under the guidance of Dr. Reese, he seemed headed for a career in music of the
Counter Reformation, but more specifically, he learned the importance of
consulting primary documents and developing an expansive and questioning
horizon. He also began to contemplate what had been left out of history, and
that curiosity was intensified by his readings in Egyptian history. His route
was symptomatic of the American musicologist: accepting the skills and
discipline of Musikwissenschaft, but applying these to subjects close at
hand.
He had not given up
attention to the piano, however, having won an award from the Pro Mozart
Society of Detroit, allowing him to go to Salzburg and enroll at the Mozarteum.
For a period he toured with the flutist Irvin E. Gilman and has maintained a
piano studio that has attracted students who not only became professional
musicians, but also those whose other professions were enhanced by their piano
studies. In the 1970s he accepted faculty appointments: at Detroit's Music
Settlement School as choral conductor (at Manhattan he was also a student of
Hugh Ross, another giant in his field); in Washington at the District of
Columbia Teachers College, and in Louisiana at Southern University. But he
also served as curator of the E. Azalia Hackley Memorial Collection, one of the
great riches of the Detroit Public Library. All the while, he explored the
archives and libraries of the regions, giving a focus on earlier African
American music, and had begun publishing his findings.
He quickly began attracting
attention for his lectures, research, and interests in history. In 1969 he
headed a committee at Wayne State University that explored Detroit's 300-year
past and in 1989 he represented the United States at the meeting in Caracas of
the Organization of American States. By this time he caught the notice of the
senior scholar in music of the Americas, Robert M. Stevenson, who lauded his
work, now conducted at the Michigan Music Research Center (Michigan Building,
Suite 840, 220 Bagley Avenue, Detroit MI 48226).
That he elected to publish his
research on his own means that, although he lacked the marketing, production,
and other advantages available from major publishers, he was free to write
exactly what he wanted, liberated from external editing,[1]
guidelines, and extended peer evaluations. He has discussed the concept of
research and his own applications on the web at
http://eliswashingtonreport.com/labrew/the-musicologist/, splendidly
articulated. He has relied on primary sources in libraries and archives on his
travels, where many items had been held unnoticed, some located through a chain
of obscure informational associations. He has been merciless in signalling
those instances of works by others that repeat errors provided in unreliable
sources (see for example his 78-page errata-review, Perspectives in Black
music¸ mainly of Eileen Southern's Biographical dictionary of African
and Afro-American musicians) issued originally as v2n2 of the Afro-American
music review. In more than one instance, he reported his findings long
before others, who then presented their work as if it had previously been
undiscovered, or repeated his work without credit. He also made rich use of
the memories of older observers and participants, e.g. his grandmother,
Colleen Lamar, a native of Biloxi and 1905 graduate of Southern University, who
had been a classmate of Camille Nickerson, and Charles Castaing, grandson of
Basile Barès.
His honors and awards include first
place winner in the competition of the National Association of Negro Musicians
(1958), with which he has been official pianist and historian, National Guild
of Piano Teachers (1947, 1948, 1954), Beltran Award, Carlotta Dreyfus Award
(1953, as outstanding student at the Manhattan School of Music) and the
Tanglewood Music Festival (1953-1956). As primary consultant for the
Smithsonian Institute's travelling exhibit, Played with success, he was
named an honorary citizen of New Orleans in 1977 by Mayor Moon Landrieu and in
1976 named honorary colonel by Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards (related to his
work as consultant for the 1976 production of Porgy and Bess at Southern
University). Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young presented him with a bicentennial
certificate in 1976. Further honors include recognition in 2001 by the
Société of the Culturally Concerned in Detroit and in 2004 by the Fred Hart
Williams Genealogical Society.
Catalogs of research libraries
whose patrons include established or embryonic specialists owe it to them to
hold a strong collection of LaBrew's works. Educators and scholars whose work
relates to any of the hundreds of musicians he has given attention to should
proceed with caution if LaBrew's work is not consulted. Information on the
titles cited below (not yet exhaustive) may be secured at detroitmusic1865@yahoo.com.
One more honor is due: it is
clearly time for him to be awarded a doctorate, in honoris causa.
Works:
"Harry P.
Guy and the ragtime era of Detroit" by Arthur LaBrew and Nancy Bostick, in
The rag-time ephemeralist at
http://home.earthlink.net/ephemeraliast/guyo1.html.
Afro-American
music review, v1n1 (1981/VII-XII). The Caribbean and Latin American
influences of Black musicians abroad and in the United States; A brief history
of Afro-American music journals, p5-8; Tributes: Elizabeth T.
Greenfield, the Black Swan, p9-20; A composite: The Brindis de Salas
family, p21-66; Julian, Nicasio & Manuel Jiménez, p67-94; Doña
Maria Martinez, p95-103; Additional notes on Blind Tom and his music,
p104-139; George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower, 1778-1860, p130-173.
Afro-American
music review, v1n2 (1982/I-VI). Tribute: Melvin Charlton, 188-1973,
Edgar Rogie Clark, 1913-1978, and Edward Hammond Boatner, 1897-1973;
150 years with the Lambert family of New Orleans; Edmond Dédé (dit
Chartenton), 1827-1901, p75-98; Eugene Arcade Dédé, 1867-after
1912; Special features: The writings of Don Lee White, Two new works of Samuel
Snaër, 1832-1968; Musician extraordinaire, Henri Salvador of Paris, France,
1917-.
Afro-American
music review, v2n1 (1982/I-VI). Tribute: R. Nathaniel Dett,
1882-1943, p5-56; Black musicians of the colonial period and their
successor, Supplement I, p57-116; So-called Negro governors,
p117-122; Run-away White musicians in colonial America, 1729-1801,
p123-139; The legend of Sy Gilliatt, 17??-1819, p140-148; Part I A-L;
musicians in the United States Colored regiments -- Civil War, p149-192, Special
features: An unknown source for the hidden Afro-American musician's history,
William Pleasant(s), p193-201; Biographical notices to the Harmon
Foundation Awards, 1826-1930, p202-223.
Afro-American
music review, v2n2 (1985/VII-XII). Perspectives in Black music
studies; a review of Eileen Southern's Dictionary of Afro-American and African
musicians [Offprint available]
Afro-American
music review, v3n1 (1985/VII-XII). Tribute: James Monroe Trotter;
Notes toward a history of music in Louisville, Kentucky, p1-10; Nineteenth
century Afro-American singing convention in Abbeville, South Carolina,
p11-15; Hymnology among America's early Black communities, ca. 1855,
p26-59; The Gillams of Detroit, Michigan, p58-69; Black opera, myth
or reality?, p70-96; The Cariolina Singers; Philadelphia Spirituelles
of 1872, p97-140; Index, p141-145.
Afro-American
music review, v3n2 (1986/I-VI). The music of Jacob Sawyer,
facsimile edition of spirituals and minstrel music.
Afro-American
music review, v4n1 (1987/VII-XII). International dictionary of
musicians of color (Index), antiquity to 1800, p5-80; The Bantu
composers of South Africa (index), p81-91; Sources for United States,
p93-94.
Afro-American
music review, v4n2 (1987/I-VI). List of Black violinists and
fiddlers in America, 1678-1800. 97p.
Afro-American
music review, v5n1 (1993/VII-XII). Black musicians found in United
States censuses and other records, 1800-1900. 400+p [in progress]
Afro-American
music review, v5n2 (1994/I-VI). Trotter vindicated? An occasional
paper on America's first Black music historian, p5-131.
Afro-American
music review, v6n1 (1996/I-VI). Banneker Institute, ca. 1853-1860;
Credo for a new century. William Appo, 1808-1880. Roland Hayes in Detroit
during the 20s. Fifty years of programs given in memory of E. Azalia Hackley
Collection, 1943-1994; David Hurd, organist extraordinaire. Necrology: Joseph
Hayes, Leroy Boyd, John D. Carter, Dorris Berry.
An occasional
report: A dream deferred; On the life of Elizabeth T. Greenfield.* Detroit:
Arthur LaBrew, 2011. 17p.
Before
and after ragtime. Detroit: Arthur LaBrew, 1978. 35p. [paper]
Black
composers of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania before the Civil War. Philadelphia:
Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, 1974. [paper]
Black
music and musical taste in New York City, 1800-1850. Detroit: Arthur
LaBrew, 1983. 113p. (Studies in 19th century Afro-American music,
series 1)
Black
music in a slave state; Nineteenth-century New Orleans before Storyville.
Detroit: Arthur R. LaBrew, 2000. 550p.
Black
musicians and family relationships found in United States nineteenth-century
census and other records, 1800-1900. Detroit: Arthur LaBrew, 1994.
222 leaves. 1995, 515 leaves.
Black
music and musical taste In New York City, 1800-1850. Detroit: Arthur
LaBrew, 1981. 112p. (Studies in Afro-American music).
Black
musicians of and in the New World; The exodus to Europe. Washington:
American Musicological Society, Latin American session, 1974. 63p. [paper]
Black
musicians of the American colonial period, 1700-1800; A preliminary index of
names, with supplement. Detroit: Arthur LaBrew, 1995. 1977. Preface,
p7-12; General commentary, p13-15; Eighteenth century
antecedents, p16-17; Evidence of structure; religion and Blacks
(pp59-69, Black in military unites, p70-74; Final summary, p70-74;
Black musicians of the colonial period and their successors, 1652-1829, supplement
1, p75-86; Chronological listing, p91-192; An ode, p203-204; A
grand concert, p205-206; Two new sources containing the Star spangled
banner, p207-212; Pompey and Phyllis, p21-216; Jacob Craig,
fiddler p217-218; Symbols in text, p219-220; Bibliography,
p223-224; Inex, p225-229.
Black
musicians of the colonial period, 1700-1800; A preliminary index of names
compiled from various sources. Detroit: Arthur LaBrew, 1977. ix, 209p.
(Studies in 18th century Afro-American music).
Boston:
Music in an abolitionist state, 1800 to 1890. Detroit: Arthur R.
LaBrew, 1989. ca. 250p.
Captain
Francis Johnson, 1782-1844, great American bandsman; Life and works in two
volumes; 200th birthday edition, Detroit: Arthur R. LaBrew, 2006. (Studies
in nineteenth-century Afro-American music).
Cartoons,
blues, Black minstrelsy, bands, operatic and concert troupes, Black opera.
Detroit: Arthur LaBrew, 2005. 700p.
Commemorative
issue; Fifty years of progress, given in memory of the E. Azalia Hackley
Collection, 1945-1994. Detroit: Arthur R. LaBrew.
Concert
tribute to Detroit's Black prima donnas. Detroit: Arthur LaBrew,
1989/VIII-IX. 13p. Program of 8 August 1989 and DVD issued separately.
Documentary:
Negro music and musicians, Detroit, Michigan. Detroit: Arthur LaBrew,
1969.
Elizabeth
Taylor Greenfield; The Black Swan. Detroit: Arthur R. LaBrew, 1984,
1969. Vol. 2, 93-266p. Alternate title: The Black swan; Elizabeth T.
Greenfield, songstress, biographical study. Convention issue 2005.
Fifty
years of programs given in memory of the E. Azalia Hackley Collection,
1943-1944. Detroit: Arthur LaBrew, 1999. See also: Afro-American
music review, v6n1.
Francis
Johnson as a musical ambassador, his music repertoire. Detroit: Arthur
LaBrew, 1988.
Francis
Johnson (1792-1844); A study in 19th-century military and terpsichorean
music history. Detroit: Arthur R. LaBrew, 1974. [Out of print]
Free at
last; Legal aspects concerning the career of Blind Tom Bethune, 1849-1908.
Detroit: Arthur R. LaBrew, 1976. 68p. New ed. in progress.
History of
the National Association of Negro musicians, Inc. Detroit: Arthur R.
LaBrew, 1996
International
dictionary of musicians of color. [in progress]
Marie
Selika, America's first great Black coloratura soprano. [in progress]
Musicians
of color in England, Latin America, and America. Detroit: Arthur
LaBrew, 1996.
Scenes
and episodes; The musical life of Coleridge Taylor Perkinson, 1932-2004, a
musician of Afro-American heritage; Addenda for a new century.
Detroit: Arthur LaBrew, 2012.
Selected
works of Francis Johnson*; Bicentennial edition, A study in military and
terpsichorean history. Detroit: Arthur LaBrew, 1977; p1-128; About
the author, p129-132. OP
The
Afro-American musical legacy in Michigan; A sesquicentennial tribute.
Detroit: Arthur LaBrew, 1987. 119p. (Studies in 20th century
Afro-American music, series 2).
The
collected works of Francis Johnson. Detroit: Arthur LaBrew, 2007. 2nd
ed. Vol. 1 (600p); vol. 2, facsimile of complete oeuvre (500 p).
The
complete life and works of Francis Johnson. Detroit: Arthur LaBrew,
1994.Vol. 1: 550p.
The
Detroit history that nobody knew, or bothered to research, 1800-1900.
Detroit: Arthur R. LaBrew, 2007 (300th year celebration, the
Black community; Music and the fine and secular arts). Part 1: (2001); Part
2: 589-1163p.
The image
of Blacks as seen in music literature. (Studies in 19th
century Afro-American music, series 1) [in progress]
The
published music of America's first Black harpist, Joseph L. Gordon,
Philadelphia musician, 1805/15-1867. Detroit: Arthur LaBrew, 2007.
37p. (Studies in 20th century Afro-American music, series 2).
The
underground musical traditions of Philadelphia Pennsylvania, 1800-1900.
Detroit: Arthur LaBrew, 2003. 372p.
They too
shall pass; Biographies of older Detroit musicians deceased or in advanced age.
Detroit: Arthur LaBrew, 1990. 150p. (Studies in 20th century
Afro-American music, series 2).
Vignettes
of Black musicians in Detroit and its surrounding area, 1900-1988.
Detroit: Arthur LaBrew, 1988. 251p. (Studies in 20th century
Afro-American music, series 2).
Who's
raggin' ragtime. Detroit: Arthur LaBrew, 1985.
------------------------------------
Dominique-René
de Lerma
[1] Typos are inevitable. Despite any author's critical eye, a second
reader can be an advantage.
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