Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Born Feb. 27, 1807, Wrote Poems Which Became 'Hiawatha Trilogy' of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

[Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) is profiled at AfriClassical.com, which features a comprehensive Works List and a Bibliography by Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma, www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com. We are collaborating with the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Foundation of the U.K., www.SCTF.org.uk]

[Above: This replica of the white marble bust of Longfellow in Poet's Corner, Westminster Abbey, London, England, is found in the Brown Research Library at Maine Historical Society, Portland, Maine. Still image from the video by Richard Kane in "Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and His Music in America, 1900–1912."]

[Above: Rodrick Dixon, as seen in "Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and His Music in America," sings a number of Coleridge-Taylor songs during The Longfellow Choral Festival, March 16 & 17, in Merrill Auditorium, among them, Coleridge-Taylor's setting of Longfellow's poem, "The Arrow and The Song," one of SCT's earliest student compositions. Rod's reading will be from a Coleridge-Taylor manuscript previously thought lost. Thanks to Jonathan Butcher, Artistic Director of Surrey Opera, for finding this for us.]

The Longfellow Chorus Portland, Maine	February 20, 2013

The whole poem is in praise of a certain lady, who "———— was rich and gave up all/To break the iron bands/Of those who waited in her hall/And labored in her lands." No doubt, it is a very commendable and very comfortable thing, in the Professor, to sit at ease in his library chair, and write verses instructing the southerners how to give up their all with a good grace . . ..—Edgar Allan Poe's criticism of "She Dwells by Great Kenhawa's Side ["The Good Part that shall not be taken away"], one of Longfellow's Poems on Slavery. From the Aristidean, April 1845.

Dear Mr. Hilyer,

. . .Also, the second number of my choral ballads ["She Dwells by Great Kenhawa's Side," from Longfellow's Poems on Slavery] should be for solo quartet, if possible, you have three soloists [Harry T. Burleigh, baritone, Estella Pickney Clough, soprano, and J. Arthur Freeman, tenor], — is a good contralto to be had. . .?—Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, letter to Andrew Hilyer, co-founder of the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Choral Society, Sept. 16, 1904 

Born today, February 27, 206 years ago, in a house (now vanished) not far from today's Casco Bay Lines ferry terminal in Portland, Maine, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his poetry have influenced events and the lives of countless people around the world.

Some of you will recognize that I've repeated a quotation from my July newsletter: Edgar Allan Poe's criticism of Longfellow's poem on slavery, "The Good Part that shall not be taken away," otherwise known as "She Dwells by Great Kenhawa's Side," published in 1842. 

There is a reason for this. At 1 PM, Sunday, March 17, during our pre-Hiawatha-concert recital of Coleridge-Taylor songs and choruses, you will get the chance to hear Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's solo quartet version of the poem that Edgar Allan Poe, a defender of slavery, ceremoniously trashed.

Coleridge-Taylor composed his musical version of "She Dwells by Great Kenhawa's Side" for the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Choral Society of Washington, D. C. The piece — as you can tell from Coleridge-Taylor's letter to Andrew Hilyer, also quoted above — was too difficult for the large chorus, and so the task of singing the premiere on November 16 and 17,1904, was given to three star soloists, among them, Harry T. Burleigh, baritone, and an alto chosen from the choral society membership.

That was not the only aspect of the premiere that was distinctive: the orchestra accompaniment to "She Dwells by Great Kenhawa's Side" was played by the orchestra of the U. S. Marine Band under the baton of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor — the last time a guest conductor would lead "The President's Own" until 1998.

Kenhawa's Side has become part of the mythology of Coleridge-Taylor — and a few people feel very passionate about it — because the only known copies of the orchestra score and parts, published by Breitkopf and Härtel, were destroyed during the urban bombing of the Second World War. 

Thus, our four soloists, Angela Brown, soprano, Rodrick Dixon, tenor, Karla Scott, mezzo-soprano and Robert Honeysucker, baritone, will perform the work with piano, and not orchestra, in Merrill Auditorium on March 17.

But a few further words need to be said about Longfellow and slavery. "She Dwells by Great Kenhawa's Side" is a poem that anticipates the Emancipation Proclamation by 21 years. It is a poem that may well have been based on the life of Angelina Grimké, one of those young wealthy southerners who "gave up their all with good grace," as Poe writes. Those of you who watched "The Abolitionists" on PBS's Great American Experience will recognize Angelina Grimké as the young women who rebels against her slave-owning family in the opening episode. 

Hundreds of young people may have been inspired to help educate the freed slaves after reading Longfellow's "She Dwells by Great Kenhawa's Side" Prominent among those was Charlotte Forten Grimké, an educator and African-American anti-slavery activist, who married Angelina's nephew. And the young W. E. B. Du Bois taught school in the rural south while studying at Fisk University.

Of further interest is Longfellow's poem, "The Building of the Ship," (1849), a pro-Union, "ship as state" poem that was an inspiration to Abraham Lincoln during his presidency.

All of this is to say that Longfellow's influence on American society was enormous. During The Longfellow Choral Festival in Merrill Auditorium, you will hear five musical settings of Longfellow's poetry by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor — one of those, Hiawatha, is four hours long, and so I think that counts as a few extra.

Dr. Shirley J. Thompson Recently Took 'Mandela Tales' to South Africa

Flickr Music is Great (This photo is copyrighted  All Rights Reserved)

www.flickr.com/photos/ukinsouthafrica/8455580554/

Sergio Mims relays news from Dr. Shirley J. Thompson, who also provided the above photo and the Cape Times article below:

"You will be pleased to know that I am recently returned from South Africa after an invitation by the British Embassy to be the focus of GREAT British Music Week with my production, Mandela Tales. I also gave music workshops in the Cape Town townships. It was a very interesting experience."

Cape Times
Extracts of 'Mandela Tales' at British showcase

Ben Holt Memorial Concerts Revived with Audra McDonald

Ben Holt in Die Fledermaus

Dominique-René de Lerma:

Dean Brian Pertl of Lawrence University's Conservatory of Music, brought many aggiornamenti to the school's curricula, including ethnic considerations (he had previously been Microsoft's in-house ethnomusicologist). He has now announced the revival of the Ben Holt Memorial Concert Series, which had been dormant during a seven-year interregnum.

            Igniting this will be Audra McDonald, on 10 March.  A Juilliard student of Eileen Faull, she has won five Tony awards (the last for her Porgy and Bess) and appeared in Poulenc's La voix humaine with the Houston Grand Opera.  In addition to other opera repertoire, she was an Emmy nominee for her work as an actress on television and has appeared in major films. She has also been a guest on the television program of former presidential candidate, Stephen Colbert.

            The series is a tribute to Ben Holt, African and Native American of the Metropolitan Opera, whose super-star incipit was cut short by cancer, when he had just begun his ascent at age 34, the time a male voice reaches its maturity.  It had been known ten years earlier that his cancer could have been cured by chemotherapy, but that this would have an effect on his voice (witness the case of José Carreras).  He opted to live with it, sharing his love of the art, not only with concert goers, but children, the infirm, and incarcerated as well.  His credo: God gave me the gift of life.  What I do with that life is a gift back to God.

            The series was initiated in 1992 when I was director of Chicago's Center for Black Music Research, with a recital by mezzo-soprano Bonita Hyman (later principal with the Hamburg Opera).   Bass-baritone Kevin Short followed, not only in Chicago in 1993, but at Lawrence University when I joined the Conservatory faculty in 1994.  Subsequent artists included the late William Warfield, who grandfatherly narrated Peter and the wolf with the Conservatory's orchestra in a benefit for the Music Academy, to an overflowing hall.  In 1995, the Met's first tenor, George Shirley was heard in recital. Then was soprano Elizabeth Norman, who had just won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air, and now is on the faculty of Roosevelt University.  Kishna Davis, a private student of Leontyne Price (!), was the soprano in the orchestra's 1997 performance of the Beethoven ninth (available on CD).  Melissa White, 13-year-old violinist who had not yet won first place in the Sphinx Competition nor been accepted at the Curtis Institute of Music, was the 1997 guest artist.  In 1998, the prolific music journalist and author, Gene Lees,  spoke on literary style in popular music texts.  In 1999 we brought cellist Jared Snyder, who had just won first place in the Sphinx Competition for his cello recital debut (his mom, bassist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, had worked for me during her students days at Indiana University and had studied voice with Mari Tanaguchi at Lawrence; as for his father, he was immediately engaged as director of the Conservatory's prep school).  The tenth season brought us Dr. Daniel Bernard Roumain, composer-violinist, whose reputation as a hip-hop idealized innovator and minimalist had him well on his way to international fame.  In 2002 another Sphinx winner came for a recital: violinist Gareth Johnson.  In 2003, a magnificent lecture-recital by tenor Dr. Darryl Taylor gave note to the centennial of the birth of Langston Hughes (this recording artist, a principal figure in vocal music repertoire and research, is now on the faculty of the University of California-Irvine). His program brought out a large population as well from the students and faculty of the English department. The last event before the hiatus was in 2004, when choral conductor for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra the late Brazeal W. Dennard, conducted the campus chorus.

            It was after this concert, health imposed itself on my activities.  Now, in this resurrection, Dean Pertl has at least two faculty members on his team for Holt concepts: George and Marjorie Olsen Chandler Professor of Music Janet Anthony (head of the string department) and Kenneth Bozeman (head of the vocal department, and the Frank C. Shattuck Professor of Music).

Antonio Green's web site on Ben Holt, including an album of historic photos, may be found at http://www.benholtarchive.com/bio/. 

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Dominique-René de Lerma

http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com

Dominique-René de Lerma: 'Black, Brown, and Beige #6'

Adolphus C. Hailstork (b. 1941) is featured at AfriClassical.com 

African Heritage Symphonic Series, Vol. II; Epitaph For A Man Who Dreamed In Memoriam: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968); by Adolphus C. Hailstork; Chicago Sinfonietta; Paul Freeman, Conductor: Cedille CDR 90000 061 (2001)

Dominique-René de Lerma:

Those who were around in the late 40s will know that a "moldy fig" was one who didn't dig bop.  If that pejorative term could be pushed back a few decades to embrace the blues, some who tuned into the second week's start of Bill McLaughlin's NPR series, Portraits in Black, Brown and Beige, would have taken offence.  But the blues is the secular side of the spiritual (to which we surely will yet be treated).  Although a reaction against Reconstruction, it soon became the catharsis'  means of survival and nurtured the jazz and, later, gospel music, as well as R&B, minus the laments.  In its classic form, as Bill exemplified, it was a variety of solo call and response, using the most elemental harmonic patterns, thus assuring a variety of applications.  Because Black music does not like silence, each line of the verse was the time to insert commentary, either vocal ("yes, Lord!") or instrumental, as with Louis Armstrong's insertion -- the "break".  African music does not like the half-step interval , so the blues microtonally lowers the third and seventh degrees of the West's major scale. This could have been illustrated by either of the two first-movement themes of William Grant Still's Afro-American symphony, which we have been able to hear at least twice during the last week.  This was, in music, what the Harlem Renaissance sought in the 'elevation" of the folkloric; Still used the symphony for his blues, while Claude McKay (Still's contemporary) used the Shakespearean sonnet  to frame his militant If we must die.

              Bill made reference to the European (relative) emphasis on the first beat of a measure.  This is because that is the place where the previous harmonic motion settles on the tonic, excepting for feminine endings (the gender reference is to French grammar).  Black music democratizes the pulsations by giving emphasis also to other beats.

              We had a chance to hear Louis Armstrong's raspy singing. This is a continuation of the African Klangideal which added jingling rattles to the kora and rattling beads to the mbira.  If we had been able to isolate Armstrong's vowels, we would have heard a sonority akin to that of his trumpet, alerting us to the firm confluence of sonorities in Black music, including the messages of the dundun and Adelaide Hall's scat singing with the sound of Bubber Miley's trumpet in Creole love call.

I'm listening to Black, Brown and Beige on Chicago's WFMT.  This is not an NPR affiliate; they carry commercials, brief but ubiquitous.  These are, however, devoid of hysterics, commands (CALL NOW!), snake oil promos, and mendacious testimonials. It is good preparation for the future, when Philistine politicians, true to their tradition, will regard "high" culture, the arts, and things cerebral as expendable frills, in which federal funds need not be diverted, and that will be the end of National Public Radio.  WFMT's airing was an hour early, to make room for a live broadcast of Rigoletto from the Lyric (far more welcome that yet another airing of a Vivaldi concerto in C major for whatever).  

The program was less unified by the juxtaposition of unrelated works, already exemplified.

This left the Epitaph of Adolphus Hailstork in strange company (and Dolph is no longer on the faculty of  Norfolk State, but now has an honorary appointment at Old Dominion -- did my liner notes err?).

Whenever the week's topic is announced, I try to guess what works will be included.  This time, I'm up for pot luck, although I have certain hopes, if time permits.  By the end of this week, I think we would all be interested in knowing what works or composers the faithful missed.

(BTW: If you wish either a CD or DVD of the Still symphony, so well performed by Kirk Moss and the Lawrence University Symphony Orchestra -- as well as some fascinating tributes to Native Americana -- instructions for order placement are provided at the bottom of http://www.lawrence.edu/conservatory/services/webcasts/.)

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Dominique-René de Lerma

http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com

Philly.com: 'James DePreist memorial scheduled' in Philadelphia March 4, 2013 at 11 AM

ArtsWatch

Posted: Monday, February 25, 2013, 12:47 PM

Peter Dobrin, Inquirer Classical Music Critic

James DePreist's many friends from Philadelphia and beyond will gather for a memorial service Monday, March 4 at 11:00 a.m. at Union Baptist Church, Fitzwater & Martin Streets. The conductor died Feb. 8 after a long career that took him to orchestras around the globe. His Inquirer obituary is here.

[James DePreist is featured at AfriClassical.com]

Intercultural Music Festival & Symposium: Free Concert Sunday, March 3, 2013, 4 PM, Pilgrim Congregational Church, 826 Union Blvd, St. Louis, MO

WQXR.org: 'The Choral Mix with Kent Tritle: African American Choral Composers'

William Grant Still 

(Photo is the sole property of William Grant Still Music, and is used with permission)

William Grant Still (1895-1978) and Ulysses S. Kay, Jr. (1917-1995) are profiled at AfriClassical.com, which features a comprehensive Works List for each by Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma, http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com 

An hour of choral music of African American composers may be heard via the following link:

WQXR New York City

The Choral Mix with Kent Tritle

African American Choral Composers

Sunday, February 24, 2013

On this edition of The Choral Mix, Kent Tritle explores compositions of contemporary African Americans.  

...

Ulysses Kay was originally encouraged to pursue composition by William Grant Still, and composed for chorus receiving particular praise for his works. He taught for two decades in the city at Lehman College. Featured on this episode is his sacred triptych called, A New Song-3 Psalms for Chorus. They are a capella settings of portions of Psalms 149, 103 and 117. The Choir of Trinity Church Wall Street sings this version under the direction of Larry King.

Philip Brunelle and his Minnesota group Vocalessence are champions of African American composition. We play selections sung by the midwestern group composed by two leading women -- Undine Smith Moore and Evelyn Simpson-Curenton.

This episode would not be complete without a contribution from the great William Grant Still. Grant Still was a prolific composer and man of many firsts -- the first African-American to conduct a major American symphony orchestra, the first to have a symphony (his first symphony) performed by a leading orchestra, the first to have an opera performed by a major opera company, and the first to have an opera performed on national television. These are all testaments to the great quality of work.  We feature his dramatic work, Wailing Woman. It's scored for Chorus, Orchestra and soloist.  We play a version featuring more of Vocalessence, with soloist Yolanda Williams led by Philip Brunelle.

Dominique-René de Lerma on W.G. Still's 'Afro-American Symphony': There has not been any performance that has equaled that of Lawrence's orchestra

William Grant Still

Dominique-René de Lerma:

I am extraordinarily glad that, through the critically important web site of William Zick (chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/), a targeted and international audience was aware of this performance of William Grant Still's Afro-American symphony.  I was involved in the LP recording of the work we did with the London Symphony Orchestra (the other LSO) for Columbia Records forty years ago and I am very familiar with all of the subsequent CD recordings.  There has not been any performance that has equaled that of Lawrence's orchestra, conducted with such profound understanding by Dr. Moss -- not in terms of sentiment, balance, or insight.  I knew Dr. Still, and I know he would have been astonished that any undergraduate school orchestra would have scheduled or given so stellar a performance.  I alerted in advance Judith Anne Still, the composer's daughter and my dear friend, to this performance.  She certainly listened on her computer, along with our many friends and colleagues in Europe and Africa.  This performance is being added to the entry on Still in my forthcoming encyclopedia.  The first time anyone at Lawrence ever heard this work (or perhaps Still's name) would have been in my classes on Black music (1994-2002). The students were then irritated they had not thus far encountered such a milestone in Black music history.  Now, by more than those just in the Con, this work has been heard.  And all of those elsewhere were introduced to the high standards of our students.  I am so deeply proud that my final of 52 years of teaching, were dedicated to Lawrence!

Dominique-René de Lerma, retired professor of music, Lawrence University

Comment by email:

It was indeed a wonderful performance, and an important moment for Lawrence to let this great work resound though the Chapel and across the globe via our webcast.  Thank you all for your support getting the word out about this concert.

Still glowing from the glorious music-making.

Dean Brian Pertl

Eric Conway: 'Meet our guest choirs for our March 3 Silver Anniversary Celebration Concert'

Eric Conway of Morgan State University forwards this release:

The Bach Concert Series' Silver Anniversary Celebration Concert Series is just days away -- on Sunday, March 3 at Chizuk Amuno Congregation. Do you have your tickets yet? The concert will be a joyous occasion of massive scope: 300 musicians will perform Beethoven's 9th Symphony, including 52 orchestra members and four world-class soloists, all under the direction of Bach Concert Series founder, Maestro T. Herbert Dimmock.

  

Joining the Bach Concert Choir at this concert will be two magnificent choirs from Maryland, the Maryland State Boychoir and the Morgan State University Choir. 

Now celebrating its 26th season, The Maryland State Boychoir under the direction of Stephen A. Holmes serves the State of Maryland as its "Official Goodwill Ambassadors." The Boychoir performs over 60 times annually throughout Maryland as well as on national and international tours. The Maryland State Boychoir is dedicated to providing talented boys with a musical education in the tradition of the great European choir schools and provides an environment that cultivates the art of choral singing. Boys in the choir are given opportunities to perform professionally and grow socially. Visit www.marylandstateboychoir.org for more information. 

The Morgan State University Choir is one of the nation's most prestigious university choral ensembles. The choral forces of this critically acclaimed choir include The University Choir, which is over 130 voices strong, and The Morgan Singers - approximately 40 voices. While classical, gospel, and contemporary popular music comprise the choir's repertoire, the choir is noted for its emphasis on preserving the heritage of the spiritual, especially in the historic practices of performance. The Morgan State University Choir has shared its musical gifts on many grand stages all over the world - with numerous dignitaries and celebrated performers - making them cultural ambassadors for Morgan State University, the City of Baltimore, the State of Maryland and the United States. Please visit www.msuchoir.org for additional information.

SlippedDisc: 'Rub your ears: Fast-rising pop star came out of … top symphony orchestra'

Laura Mvula

Sergio Mims sends this link:

Arts Journal

February 22, 2013 by Norman Lebrecht

We hear that Laura Mvula – the singer-songwriter whose debut album, Sing to the Moon, is being tipped for the charts – has come up through the classical hothouse.

No sooner did we admire the quality of her debut track this morning than friends at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra popped up to tell us that Laura used to play in the first violin section of the CBSO Youth Orchestra and worked until last year as receptionist at the CBSO Centre. She played in The Firebird under Sakari Oramo and in the world premiere of Tansy Davies Streamlines. ‘She’s classically trained to the hilt, profoundly musical, and as modest and engaging as anyone could wish,’  says Birmingham classical music writer Richard Bratby.

...

I love it when the two worlds of music kiss, rather than collide.