Myron Moss heard 'Pictures' on Schuyler LP; 'found the interpretation imaginative and individual, well worth hearing.'

[Philippa Duke Schuyler]

Yesterday John McLaughlin Williams provided the program of the one LP record made by Philippa Duke Schuyler:

“Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition

Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No.6

Turina: Sevilla Op.2

Infante: Sevillian Variations

Copland: The Cat and the Mouse

Gershwin: An American in Paris (arr. Schuyler)

Ernest Middleton: Andante Satirico - 'Cold Moon'

Antonio Casanova: Voyage Around Cape Horn”

We subsequently heard from Myron D. Moss, Ph.D., Music Program Director, Department of Performing Arts, Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, Drexel University. Dr. Moss tells AfriClassical:

“The Indiana University music library holds the Philippa Schuyler LP recording you've discussed on your blog. I was able to listen to 'Pictures' while doing research there and found the interpretation imaginative and individual, well worth hearing.”

'I enjoyed the programme too, but how come none of her music seems to have been recorded?'

[Philippa Duke Schuyler]

Gwendoline Y. Fortune, Ed.D. commented on Colour of Genius, the 20-minute BBC Radio 3 documentary on Philippa Duke Schuyler. On Oct. 16, 2011 AfriClassical posted: “Gwen Fortune: 'Today, there are tens of thousands of “genetic” Philippa Schuylers, being hugged and allowed to grow.'” In response, another commenter says: “I enjoyed the programme too, but how come none of her music seems to have been recorded? There is nothing of hers on either YouTube or Amazon, and a Google search brings up nothing to listen to either.”

Gwen Fortune: “Today, there are tens of thousands of 'genetic' Philippa Schuylers, being hugged and allowed to grow.”

[Philippa Duke Schuyler]

Gwendoline Y. Fortune, Ed.D. comments on Colour of Genius, the 20-minute BBC Radio 3 documentary on Philippa Duke Schuyler, which aired Oct. 14:

I listened to the BBC program on Philippa Schuyler, and found it very interesting. I read the entry on her father in Wikipedia. I had forgotten her father's conservative political position. So was surprised by that mention on Phillipa. When one considers the source, her conservatism is understandable. Her mother was described as a "liberal." Not so, if she was connected with the John Birch Society.

This does not detract from Philippa's genius. Her tragic life is testimony to the insanity of our world at personal and public interface. I was getting into my car at the grocery and saw a child, eight or nine, who resembled Phillipa Schuyler. Her father exited the car and took her hand. The father was black, with dreadlocks. Both seemed happy. Today, there are tens of thousands of "genetic" Philippa Schuylers, being hugged and allowed to grow. The theory of Dr. Watson, not to hug children, was cruel.

Gwen

OvergrownPath.com on Philippa Schuyler: 'How faith and idealism triumphed over ratings'

[Philippa Duke Schuyler]

AfriClassical recently posted: “Recordings of Music of Philippa Duke Schuyler by John McLaughlin Williams to Air on BBC-Radio 3 on Oct. 14.” Now that the program has aired, Bob Shingleton of On An Overgrown Path writes to us:

Bill, BBC Radio 3 profile of Philippa Schuyler is on BBC iPlayer until October 21. Here is my post-transmission post...

Regards,

Bob

OvergrownPath.com

Saturday, October 15, 2011

“How faith and idealism triumphed over ratings

Radio 3's profile of Philippa Schuyler Colour of Genius can now be heard on the BBC iPlayer. As explained in an earlier post I had no involvement with the programme other than encouraging the BBC to develop it from the articles and recordings that I created with John McLaughlin Williams in August, which meant I heard the finished result for the first time last night. Doing justice to a personality as multi-layered as Philippa in a twenty minute interval talk is a massive challenge and everyone involved rises magnificently to the challenge. BBC Cardiff producers Michael Surcombe and Martin Williams deserve credit for steering a sensitive, in more ways than one, subject through the production process. Ella Spira's presentation is fresh and engaging, the participation of biographer Kathryn Talaly is a coup, while John McLaughlin Williams' pro bono home recordings bring Philippa to life - let us hope we hear more of John's music making on the BBC. Finally, kudos to Radio 3 for commissioning the programme...”

Comment by email:
Thanks for alerting your readership to this, Bill. You are an integral (really, indispensable) part of spreading the message of good music across any and all imaginable lines of separation. Best, J [John McLaughlin Williams]

'On An Overgrown Path': 'Parallel paths of Philippa Schuyler'

[Philippa Duke Schuyler]

Bob Shingleton sends his latest post on Philippa Duke Schuyler. He links to a BBC Radio 3 program description, from which we present an excerpt, and two earlier posts On An Overgrown Path:

Friday, October 07, 2011

“Parallel paths of Philippa Schuyler

A synopsis of BBC Radio 3's Philippa Schuyler profile Colour of genius is now available. As recounted earlier the BBC had told me they were developing this programme following my August articles. But despite this the similarities in wording are.... striking.”

BBC Radio 3

Friday, 20:25 on BBC Radio 3

Synopsis [Excerpt]

“Ella Spira tells the story of a forgotten American genius, a flag-bearer for gender and racial equality whose career as pianist and composer was destroyed by prejudice and a mother who sculpted her life as a genetic experiment. And what starts out as a simple story ends with an extraordinary and unanticipated connection between presenter and subject.

“Philippa Schuyler's life should have been one of fame and reward. Fêted by composer Leonard Bernstein, her work was performed by five leading American orchestras in her teens. She was ranked alongside Aaron Copland, and is rumoured to be the subject of a forthcoming Hollywood movie starring Alicia Keys. But in reality it was a deeply traumatic career, defined by her mixed race and the mother who viewed her as the product of a genetic experiment.

“For Ella Spira she is a fascinating enigma, a kindred spirit as a woman in a man's world. But can her talent ever be separated from the complexities which surrounded it, a life as a 'prodigy puppet' ruled by tarot cards and failed love affairs, and her bizarre death in a helicopter accident over Vietnam after recasting herself from black to white?”

George Walker: 'it is important to make distinctions between the careers of Philippa Schuyler and Natalie Hinderas.'

[TOP: Natalie Hinderas, back cover of liner notes, Piano Music of African American Composers; CRI 629 (1992) (86:35) BOTTOM: Philippa Duke Schuyler]

George Walker (b. 1922) has a website at: http://georgergetwalker.com/ and is featured at AfriClassical.com. He joins the recent discussion of Philippa Duke Schuyler:

“Hello Bill,

I think that it is important to make distinctions between the careers of Philippa Schuyler and Natalie Hinderas. The range of Natalie's performances and repertoire was far more extensive than that of Ms. Schuyler. Natalie's pianism was powerful when strength was required and technically secure. Although she was not a composer, she had an intuitive grasp of the elements found in contemporary music. Her recording of my Piano Concerto played with numerous orchestras remains a reference.”

Comment on Philippa Schuyler: 'I was an admirer and fan of hers when I was a child.'

[Philippa Duke Schuyler]

On Oct. 3 AfriClassical announced that the John McLaughlin Williams recordings made for the 80th anniversary of the birth of Philippa Duke Schuyler are to be heard on BBC Radio 3. We quoted Bob Shingleton: “It will be broadcast on Radio 3 at 8.25pm on October 14 during the interval of a concert of American music. The 20 minute feature is titled The Colour of Genius.”

Gwendoline Y. Fortune, Ed. D. is creator of the 13-part radio series on Black Composers and Performers, We Do It All. She writes with a question and a comment on the pianist Philippa Duke Schuyler (1931-1967):

“Bill,

Do you know how the program from the BBC of Phillipa Schuyler's music can be accessed via the Internet? I was an admirer and fan of hers when I was a child. I knew her story, read everything about her in the Negro press--even incorporating a brief fiction about her in my last novel. I never met her, and when she did come to South Carolina she performed in either Columbia or Charleston and we lived too far away to hear her.

Thanks,

Gwen”

BBC Radio 3 has an online player which can be found at its website. A more direct method of accessing a program on that network is to use this URL:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/bbc_radio_three Click on this link and you will immediately begin hearing whatever is being aired by BBC Radio 3 at the moment.

Recordings of Music of Philippa Duke Schuyler by John McLaughlin Williams to Air on BBC-Radio 3 on Oct. 14

[Philippa Duke Schuyler; John McLaughlin Williams]

Bob Shingleton of the classical music blog On An Overgrown Path, based in the U.K. has long been an intrepid explorer of neglected music history of composers and musicians of African descent. Today he sends exciting news on this year's recordings of piano music of Philippa Duke Schuyler by the conductor and pianist John McLaughlin Williams:

"Bill, good news - BBC Radio 3 is broadcasting a profile of the black American composer and pianist Philippa Schuyler."

Monday, October 03, 2011

Young, gifted, black and now on the BBC

Surprising where these paths lead. A fascination with Philippa Schuyler led to John McLaughlin Williams' priceless recordings and analysis of her early piano music. And now that path leads to a BBC Radio 3 programme.

My two paths in August celebrating the 80th anniversary of the birth of the black American musician sparked an email from BBC producer Michael Surcombe asking if I would have any objections to a radio feature on Philippa Schuyler being developed using John McLaughlin Williams as a contributor. To which my immediate response was, of course there would be no objections.

The BBC programme has been made with my agreement, but I have no other involvement in it. It will be broadcast on Radio 3 at 8.25pm on October 14 during the interval of a concert of American music. The 20 minute feature is titled The Colour of Genius and the presenter is the composer Ella Spira who has worked with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the Ministry of Sound and the Royal Ballet. John McLaughlin Williams' contribution was recorded in WRCJ-FM in Detroit, Michigan and the recordings of Philippa's piano music made by him for An Overgrown Path are being used by the BBC.

Kathryn Talalay, who wrote the definitive life of Philippa, is also a contributor and a rare copy of the pianist's quasi-autobiography Adventures in Black and White has been found by BBC researchers. I know that John has tracked down a copy of Philippa's only commercial recording; this is of music by Turina, Mussorgsky, Liszt and Copland and has been out of the catalogue for decades, but I do not know if it features in the programme.

I have invited the BBC to contribute a guest post on the making of the programme and hope that this will be written by Ella Spira - more details when they are available from the BBC. For my part it is very rewarding to see the diabolus in musica again refreshing the parts other media cannot reach.

John McLaughlin Williams Plays Piano Music of Philippa Duke Schuyler for 80th Anniversary of Her Birth on Aug. 2, 1931

[Philippa Duke Schuyler (Photo: Wikipedia)]

Bob Shingleton of On An Overgrown Path writes today about his collaboration with John McLaughlin Williams to honor the 80th Anniversary of the birth of Philippa Duke Schuyler (1931-1967) with a special recording of piano music composed by her:

“The first part of my celebration of the 80th anniversary of Philippa Schuyler's birth on August 2 has been published today -

http://www.overgrownpath.com/2011/08/philippa-schuyler-genius-or-genetic.html

“Part two tomorrow will feature an exclusive recording of her piano music made specially for my birthday tribute by John McLaughlin Williams. There are no catalogue CDs of her as performer or composer and John's performance will be the first opportunity to hear her music for decades.

Regards,

Bob”

Comment by email:

Thanks Bill. I hope your readers will find this of interest. As always, thanks to you for your great support. JMW [John McLaughlin Williams]

Author's Query on Music of Composer Philippa Duke Schuyler (1931-1967)

[Philippa Duke Schuyler (1931-1967) in May 9, 1951 photo from Beinecke.library.yale.edu]

An author's query has been issued by John Malveaux, a frequent contributor to AfriClassical:
“Greetings: Please help locate any music composed by Philippa Schuyler. John Malveaux <

johnmalveaux@hotmail.com>”

An AfriClassical post on Philippa Duke Schuyler was published Feb. 10, 2009. It included a link to the following source:

Beinecke.library.yale.edu
“Known as 'the baby genius of the Harlem Renaissance,' Philippa Duke Schuyler was a child prodigy who became quite famous for her youthful accomplishments as a composer and pianist. By the time she was four years old, Schuyler was a skilled pianist; by five she was performing Mozart before audiences in concert halls. When she was six, she was touring to perform her own compositions; in 1940, at the age of eight, she performed for thousands of visitors at the New York World’s Fair. She was ten when she became the youngest member of the National Association of American Composers and Conductors.”