Sheffield Telegraph: “Raiding the work of the gifted ‘Hiawatha’ man”

[Dante Quartet & Samuel Coleridge-Taylor]

Sheffield Telegraph

Published on Sunday 20 November 2011

“Hiawatha was far from being Coleridge-Taylor’s only opus number in his short life of 37 years. He has a further 80-plus to his name and a piano quintet by him, designated Op 1, is performed at Firth Hall on Tuesday at a Dante Quartet concert with pianist Alissa Firsova as part of a Sheffield University contribution to the Black History Icons series of events. Deep River, the tenth of Coleridge-Taylor’s 24 Negro Melodies Op 59 for piano, also gets an outing with Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata, Dvorák’s ‘American’ Quartet and Stravinsky Three Pieces for string quartet making up the programme.

“Penned five years before the first part of A Song of Hiawatha, the one-time ubiquitous Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast, the piano quintet wasn’t published in Coleridge-Taylor’s lifetime – a number of his works were not, despite having opus numbers. It was discovered, along with other significant pieces, in the library of the Royal College of Music as late as 1999 and since then, a large scale opera known to have been written (1907-09) but thought lost, has surfaced in the British Library with many parts of the manuscript already in typeset form.”

“Coleridge-Taylor was born in London in 1875 to an English mother and a Sierra Leonean father, a doctor who returned to Africa before he was born because his race was a barrier to employment. He studied composition at the RCM under Stanford and in 1896, Elgar, impressed by what he heard, recommended him to the Three Choirs Festival. Elgar’s publisher called him 'a genius!'

“He was a mellifluously melodic, prodigiously gifted composer! After Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast in 1898 he was consistently in demand in London and America where he made three tours and was extremely popular among African Americans.” Coleridge-Taylor said Dvorák was his favourite composer and his influence, and Schubert’s, are in evidence in his piano quintet, a work described as 'astonishing' by one critic at its premiere in 1893.” “Beethoven’s best-known violin sonata is there because it was originally written for and dedicated to the black violinist George Bridgetower...” [Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and are featured at AfriClassical.com. Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma, http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com, researched and wrote the biographical essay on George Bridgetower.]

Hucknall Dispatch: Dante Quartet & Alissa Firsova in Coleridge-Taylor's 'Piano Quintet' & 'Deep River' in November

[Samuel Coleridge-Taylor]

Black History Month is observed in October in the United Kingdom, where the University of Sheffield presents Black Classical Music in October and November:

HucknallDispatch.co.uk

Saturday 10 September 2011

Films and music take classics back to black

“FOLLOWING a successful Gay Icons project of events and concerts 12 months ago, the new University of Sheffield autumn concert season, which gets under way on October 11, takes a look at Black Icons to coincide with Black History Month.”

“There has also been a full handful of highly successful black composers, their fame largely confined to the countries they were active in, including Americans Scott Joplin and William Grant Still, a Brit, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and a remarkable French contemporary of Mozart, Joseph de Bologne, otherwise known as Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges who enjoyed iconic status in France in his day.”

“The November concert, given by the Dante Quartet and pianist Alissa Firsova, takes in two works by the undervalued Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, composer of the once hugely popular Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast, Piano Quintet Op 1 and Deep River Op 59 No 10.

“Better-known works are Dvorák’s ‘American’ Quartet, its famous second movement clearly suggesting a spiritual, and Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata, which was written for the black violinist George Bridgetower.” [Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) was an Afro-British composer and conductor featured at AfriClassical.com. The Centennial of his death will be in 2012. Major observances are being planned by organizations including the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Foundation, http://www.sctf.org.uk/. George Bridgetower (1780-1860), Scott Joplin (c. 1867-1917), William Grant Still (1895-1978) and Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799) are also featured at AfriClassical.com]

Comment by email:
Thanks Bill, good to hear of a performance. Word is getting out about C-T, in no small part due to you! Best, JMW [John McLaughlin Williams]

NOLA.com: 'Pulitzer Prize-winning poet laureate Rita Dove to read at Tulane University'

[George Bridgetower (Copyright: The British Museum); Rita Dove]

By NOLA.com

February 24, 2010, 8:23AM

“Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Rita Dove, the country's first African-American poet laureate, will read at Tulane University's McAlister Auditorium on Monday, March 8 at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. After the reading, Dove will sign copies of her book. The author of nine critically acclaimed collections of poetry, Dove has also published fiction, drama and an essay collection, The Poet's World. In addition, she collaborated with composer John Williams, providing lyrics for the song cycle Seven for Luck and teamed with him for a dramatic reading at "America's Millennium," the White House's New Year celebration in 2000.”

“The New Yorker described her 2009 collection Sonata Mulattica – which explores the life of biracial violin prodigy George Bridgetower, who inspired Beethoven's famous Kreutzer Sonata – as 'a virtuosic treatment of a virtuoso's life.'" [Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma's scholarly article on the life and music of George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower (1780-1860) is found at AfriClassical.com]

Capitol Chamber Artists Perform Work Beethoven Wrote for George Bridgetower, Black Violinist

[George Bridgetower (Copyright: The British Museum)]

RutlandHerald.com
Chamber Artists set to perform
Published: February 4, 2010
“Benson [Vermont] - Capitol Chamber Artists mark Black History Month with the performance of a piece written for Afro-Polish violinist George Bridgetower.” “Historians believe his father came from the Caribbean and his mother was an Eastern European.” “A child prodigy, Bridgetower performed concerts in London and Paris early in his life. In 1803, he performed in Vienna with Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven wrote his 'Violin Sonata No. 9' for Bridgetower, but rededicated it to Rudolphe Kreutzer after a falling-out with Bridgetower.

“The Capitol Chamber Artists will perform the sonata Sunday along with Beethoven's 'Cello Sonata in A Major' and '6 Variation on Ich Denke Dein,' as well as Franz Danzi's 'Polish Trio.' A 2 p.m. recital is followed by a 3 p.m. concert in the Benson Community Hall.” [Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma's scholarly article on the life and music of George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower (1780-1860) is found at AfriClassical.com]

Atlanta's A-List: 'Author Appearance: Former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove on January 15'

[Rita Dove; George Bridgetower (Copyright: The British Museum)]

Atlanta's A-List
Jan 7th, 2010
“Rita Dove is the former Poet Laureate of the United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia. Ms. Dove is the author of numerous collections of poetry, her most recent of which is Sonata Mulattica. Among her many awards and honors are a Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, a Fulbright scholarship, the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal, the Duke Ellington Lifetime Achievement Award, and a National Humanities Medal.” “She will be appearing as part of the Georgia Perimeter College's 14th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration at 6pm on Friday, January 15. The event will take place at the Beulah Baptist Church at 2340 Clifton Springs Rd. Decatur.”

Dominique-René de Lerma, Professor of Music at Lawrence University Conservatory in Appleton, Wisconsin has documented the life and music of George Bridgetower in painstaking detail, and has made his work available to AfriClassical.com. Felicia R. Lee of The New York Times published an article, “Poet's Muse: A Footnopte to Beethoven”, in which she reviewed Rita Dove's book of poems on Bridgetower, “Sonata Mullatica,” on April 2, 2009. Ms. Lee cited Prof. DeLerma's biography of George Bridgetower at AfriClassical.com:

“While Bridgetower failed to find a prominent place in the musical canon, his story is nevertheless recorded in the major musical histories, like The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, as well as on Internet sites like AfriClassical.com and its companion, africlassical.blogspot.com, which document black contributions to classical music.”

Europeana Cites George Bridgetower as Proof of African Heritage in Fine Arts

[George Bridgetower (1780-1860); Copyright: The British Museum]

Europeana.eu says: “This is Europeana - a place for inspiration and ideas. Search through the cultural collections of Europe, connect to other user pathways and share your discoveries.” A “Europeana Promo” on the blog “All In My Head” contains brief biographies of prominent people throughout history, including:

“George Bridgetower
Talented Europeans of African descent were making their mark in the capitals of Europe even as the abolition movement was gathering supporters. George Bridgetower [1780-1860] was the Polish-born son of a West Indian servant of the Prince Esterházy, Joseph Haydn’s Hungarian patron. He was a musical prodigy whose talent was quickly spotted, and he made his debut in Paris at the age of 9. One reviewer noted 'his talent is one of the best replies one can give to philosophers who wish to deprive people of his nation and his colour of the opportunity to distinguish themselves in the arts'.”

Dominique-René de Lerma, Professor of Music at Lawrence University Conservatory in Appleton, Wisconsin has documented the life and music of George Bridgetower in painstaking detail, and has made his work available to AfriClassical.com. Felicia R. Lee of The New York Times published an article, “Poet's Muse: A Footnopte to Beethoven”, in which she reviewed Rita Dove's book of poems on Bridgetower, “Sonata Mullatica,” on April 2, 2009. Ms. Lee cited Prof. DeLerma's biography of George Bridgetower at AfriClassical.com:

“While Bridgetower failed to find a prominent place in the musical canon, his story is nevertheless recorded in the major musical histories, like The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, as well as on Internet sites like AfriClassical.com and its companion, http://africlassical.blogspot.com/, which document black contributions to classical music.”

Dylan Christopher: 'Here in the UK black people do not think they have a place in classical music'

[Dylan Bernard Christopher]

The British composer Dylan Bernard Christopher (b. 1987) has YouTube videos online and left a post in the Guest Book at AfriClassical.com on April 10, 2009:

“Thank you! This site is amazing, because it has opened my eyes, and helped me see that I am not alone. Here in the UK black people do not think they have a place in classical music. It's a shock to them when I try to explain even the Great Beethoven himself wrote a violin sonata for a black musician. I am the only black person on my degree course, it doesn't matter, but it sometimes feels like I am trying to swim against the current. I will be quoting your articles next time, I am approached with negativity."

The Black violinist for whom Beethoven wrote what we know as the Kreutzer Sonata is George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower (1780-1860). Britain was also the home of the escaped slave Ignatius Sancho (1729-1780), who became a prominent writer and an amateur composer. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) was a hugely successful Afro-British composer and conductor who was born in Britain. Born in Belize in 1958, Errollyn Wallen is a Black composer who now lives in Britain. The composer and pianist Eleanor Alberga (b. 1949)  is from Jamaica and is now a resident of Britain as well. This is only a partial listing of Black composers and musicians in the U.K.

New York Times: 'Poet’s Muse: A Footnote to Beethoven'

Sonata Mullattica; Rita Dove; W.W. Norton Co. (2009)]

NYTimes.com
By FELICIA R. LEE
Published: April 2, 2009
“Haydn almost certainly encountered him as a child in a Hungarian castle, where the boy’s father was a servant and Haydn was the director of music, and Thomas Jefferson saw him performing in Paris in 1789: a 9-year-old biracial violin prodigy with a cascade of dark curls. While the boy would go on to inspire Beethoven and help shape the development of classical music, he ended up relegated to a footnote in Beethoven’s life. Rita Dove, the Pulitzer Prize-winning former United States poet laureate, has now breathed life into the story of that virtuoso, George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower, in her new book, 'Sonata Mulattica' (W. W. Norton). The narrative, a collection of poems subtitled 'A Life in Five Movements and a Short Play,' intertwines fact and fiction to flesh out Bridgetower, the son of a Polish-German mother and an Afro-Caribbean father.

When he died in South London in 1860, his death certificate simply noted that he was a 'gentleman.' Ms. Dove imagines, as she writes in her poem 'The Bridgetower,' that 'this bright-skinned papa’s boy/could have sailed his fifteen-minute fame/straight into the record books.' 

It did not help that years earlier, apparently in a fit of pique after a quarrel over a woman, Beethoven removed Bridgetower’s name from a sonata the composer had dedicated to him, Bridgetower being the mulatto of 'Sonata Mulattica.' The two men had performed it publicly for the first time in Vienna in 1803, with Beethoven on piano and Bridgetower on violin. By the time it was published, in 1805, it had morphed into the 'Kreutzer' Sonata, dedicated to the French violinist Rudolphe Kreutzer, who disliked it, however, saying it was unplayable, and never performed it.” “While Bridgetower failed to find a prominent place in the musical canon, his story is nevertheless recorded in the major musical histories, like The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, as well as on Internet sites like AfriClassical.com and its companion, http://africlassical.blogspot.com, which document black contributions to classical music.” “'Rita Dove does a wonderful job of humanizing the story,' William J. Zwick, the creator of AfriClassical.com, said of 'Sonata Mulattica.' The 'Kreutzer' Sonata is one of Beethoven’s most well known, he said, and shows that a work that has been valuable for centuries 'was done to show the genius of a black composer.'

“Bridgetower’s story is a corrective to the notion that certain cultural forms are somehow the province of particular groups, said Mike Phillips, a historian, novelist and former museum curator who contributed a series of essays to part of the British Library’s Web site (at http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/blackeuro) that profiles five 19th-century figures of mixed European and African heritage, including Bridgetower, Alexandre Dumas and Pushkin. He also wrote the libretto for 'Bridgetower: A Fable of London in 1807,' an opera in jazz and classical musica performed by the English Touring Opera, which had its premiere in 2007 in London.” [Full Post]  [The thoroughly documented biographical essay on George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower at AfriClassical.com is the work of Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma, Professor of Music, Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin]

LandMammal.blogspot on 'Sonata Mullatica': 'Rita Dove's reading tonight was very good'

[Sonata Mulattica; Rita Dove; W.W. Norton Co. (2009)]

Anne Haines writes about hearing former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove read from Sonata Mullatica, the book of poems which tells the story of George Bridgetower, a Black violin virtuoso.  He is profiled at AfriClassical.com by Dr. Dominique-René de Lerma, who writes that  the Beethoven work now known as the Kreutzer Sonata was originally dedicated to George Bridgetower:

LandMammal.blogspot.com

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Rita Dove and other stuff 

“Rita Dove's reading tonight was very good. She read from her forthcoming book, Sonata Mullatica, which I am now seriously looking forward to -- it's good stuff, yes, but also it is sort of a biography-in-verse about this mixed-race violinist, George Bridgetower, who hung out with (Rebecca Loudon take note) Beethoven, until they had a falling-out and Beethoven took the sonata he'd written for Bridgetower and renamed it after someone else. 

“Narrative/lyric hybrid: check! Biographical story: check! Musicians having stupid interpersonal drama: check! I think I may learn a few things about how to deal with my own current project from this book.”
[Full Post] 

Spartacus Educational Website Includes Encyclopedia 'Black People in Britain'

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)

Wednesday, 15 October 2008 

Spartacus Educational

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/

“Established in September 1997, the Spartacus Educational website provides a series of history encyclopaedias.” “Entries usually include a narrative, illustrations and primary sources. The text within each entry is linked to other relevant pages in the encyclopaedia. In this way it is possible to research individual people and events in great detail. The sources are also hyper-linked so the student is able to find out about the writer, artist, newspaper and organization that produced the material.” The encyclopedias include: “Black People in Britain,”

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/BlackPeople.htm

“A collection of biographies of black people who lived in Britain. This includes John Alcindor, Ira Aldridge, John Archer, Francis Barber, Manchererjee Bhownaggree, George Bridgetower, Learie Constantine, William Cuffay, Offobah Cugoano, William Davidson, Celestine Edwards, Olaudah Equiano, Marcus Garvey, C. L. R. James, Claude McKay, Tom Molineaux, Harold Moody, Dadabhai Naoroji, George Padmore, James Peters, Bill Richmond, Paul Robeson, Shapurji Saklatvala, Ignatius Sancho, Mary Seacole, Samuel Coleridge Taylor, Walter Tull, Robert Wedderburn, Arthur Wharton and Sylvester Williams. [George Bridgetower, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Ignatius Sancho are profiled at AfriClassical.com] 

“George Bridgetower: Art, Liberty & Slavery 1807”, Excels As Black History Resource

[Copyright: The British Library]  

George Bridgetower: Art, Liberty & Slavery 1807 is a multimedia educational
resource featuring a wealth of instructional material on George Bridgetower,
Beethoven's Black Violinist, from the City of London Festival
http://www.bridgetowerproject.org "In this website and resource we take
a close look at George Bridgetower and his relationship with Beethoven.
We also examine other artists, writers and musicians who were working at
the same time as Bridgetower, with a special focus on their relationship to
the anti-slavery movement." The Six Lessons include video of the Soweto
Gospel Choir singing a very lively rendition of Swing Down, and a soft and
tender account of I Bid You Goodnight. They also feature the Adagio of
the Kreutzer Sonata, which Beethoven originally dedicated to Bridgetower,
and a video of an interview with Julian Joseph, composer of the jazz opera
Bridgetower: A Fable of 1807.

Building Me A Home: Check Out AfriClassical.com & AfriClassical Blog

Building Me A Home writes:

If you enjoyed the Mahler post, check out this blog/website that's devoted to classical composers, musicians, and performers of African descent.

AfriClassical.com

AfriClassical the Blog

It's very interesting, especially finding out that Beethoven composed a piece for a black violinist. Except they had a falling out and Beethoven renamed it and gave it to someone else. Juicy!

Posted by Spinner at 5:04 PM