Althea Waites says George Walker's "music was not heard and performed extensively"

NPR.org: Composer George Walker takes a bow at a performance of his Pulitzer winning piece, Lilacs, in California in 1996.

Luis Sinco/LA Times/Getty Images

Althea Waites

Althea Waites writes:

I was terribly saddened to hear that George Walker, one of the brilliant composers of my generation, has passed away, and despite the fact that he was close to 100 years old and had many first achievements in his list of credits, his music was not heard and performed extensively during his lifetime. One would think that a Pulitzer Prize would be more than enough for him to be recognized as a pre-eminent composer and pianist, but I must admit that he was probably filed away and neglected because he was African-American.

Unfortunately, this is a very distressing commentary regarding the current state of affairs with black composers, except that we can hear their music for special tributes during Black History/ Heritage month, or when a critic decides to write an occasional piece about their contributions.

Hale Smith, another outstanding composer from my generation who passed away recently, wrote an excellent essay entitled “Here I Stand” in which he made a strong and compelling case for mainstreaming the music of African-American composers with the works of Bach, Stravinsky, Brahms and anyone else in the Western canon.

He also said that race and national origin should not necessarily be included as points for identification…in other words, let the music speak and express the composer’s art, and let the listener/audience form their own impressions about what they hear.

Finally, I must say that after 60 + years of performing and teaching, I continue to play music that resonates with me, regardless of who wrote it, and I perform the music of African-American composers because they deserve more recognition, nevertheless, I agree with Hale Smith’s premise that their music must be mainstreamed on concerts and classical radio stations throughout the world. It must stand on its own merit and not because it happens to have been written by an African-American composer. This is probably the best way to bring an end to years of neglect and musical racism.

Althea Waites 

Keyboard Faculty/ Steinway Artist

Cole Conservatory@California State University/ Long Beach

Comment by email:
Dear Bill,

Thank you so much for posting my comment….I really appreciate your work!

Best wishes and kind regards,

Althea [Althea Waites]