Dakota Beacon

Today we take a look at some great American stars of (mostly) classical music.  The world of opera, the recital hall, broadway and the film industry have been broadened and greatly enriched by the impressive talents of some great Black American artists.  Here are some brief sketches and a few selections of their work.  

Kathleen Battle, Soprano.  (b. 1948)  She had a stormy career with the Metropolitan Opera because, despite a beautiful voice and a great gift for interpretation, she also had some personality quirks which created a good deal of backstage drama.  Here she sings Puccini’s lovely “O Mio Babbino Caro” from Gianni Schicchi, Seiji Ozawa conducting the China National Symphony Orchestra, 2008

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qGMa9bxRZU

Andre Watts, Pianist.  (b. 1946)  A child prodigy, Watts, encouraged to practice by his Hungarian mother by her stories of Liszt, made his performance debut at age 10.  By the age of 15, Leonard Bernstein chose him to perform with the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall - he played Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (E-flat) in 1963, and he has been a star ever since.  Here he is playing Liszt’s adaptation of Paganini’s Preludes, No. 3 and Adagio in a 1988 recital.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51wzS6_bjpY

William Grant Still, Composer.  (b.1895 - d. 1978)  Born in Woodville, MS, Still’s father, a musician and bandleader, died in Still’s infancy.  His mother, a teacher moved with him to Little Rock, AR. His grandmother sang spirituals to him, his mother took him to many live musical performances.  His stepfather, encouraged his gifted stepson by taking to performances of operetta and buying him recordings. The little boy took violin lessons when he was 10 years old and taught himself to play clarinet, saxophone, oboe, double-bass, cello and viola and by 16 had graduated from high school.  He won a scholarship to Oberlin Conservator, played with Memphis star W.C. Handy and served in WWI. His Symphony No. 1 in A-flat Major is played here by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Jarvi conducting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hzFcm6HCeI

Branford Marsalis, Saxophone.  (b. 1960)  A member of a gifted family of musicians, Marsalis is a native of Louisiana.  His mother was a jazz singer and his father a music professor. Although he is best known for playing jazz, he also performs classical music.  Here, a young Branford Marsalis plays Faure’s Pavane with the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR6O6odu_18

Florence Beatrice Price (Smith), Composer, Pianist, Teacher.  (b. 1887 - d. 1953)  A native of Little Rock, AR, Price performed on the piano publicly first at age 4.  Her first composition was published when she was 11. Her mother, a music teacher, encouraged and guided her musical development.  She graduated - Valedictorian - from high school at age 14 and attended the New England Conservatory of Music. She lived many years in Chicago during the Jim Crow era.  Many of her compositions were in the repertoire of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In time her music, which was very traditional in nature, fell out of public favor but has been rediscovered - literally - in a derelict house in the outskirts of Chicago.  She was the first Black American woman composer of classical music and whose works were played by a major symphony orchestra. Here is her Violin Concerto No. 2 played by the La Jolla Symphony Orchestra (David Buckley, violin).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrlouRHdlOc

Marian Anderson, Contralto.  (b. 1897 - d. 1993)  A pioneer for Black Americans in the world of classical music, Marian Anderson became a star when this genre appeared closed to Black singers.  Here is a brief bio with some beautiful and rare recordings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXkUlCv4Jj4

And another great recording of Anderson:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V9ZnPB3InY

Jessye Norman, dramatic/mezzo soprano.  (b. 1945 - d, 2019)  Jessye Norman was not only a major star of opera and the recital hall, but was also instrumental in encouraging and promoting the careers of other financially disadvantaged youth.  A great artist, humanitarian.and spokesman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do5ZmQQM8AE

Paul Robeson, Bass-baritone.  (b. 1898 - d. 1976)  Robeson was a major star on Broadway.  His background and talents were not restricted to music.  He also held a law degree and was a powerful advocate for civil rights and human rights for all Americans, notably Black Americans at a time when equal rights were still not a reality.  This very brief biographical note helps to put this time in American history in perspective. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQbA6ZtT7oE

(singing the Welsh National Anthem, Land of my Fathers) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziJoep1cDlY

Scott Joplin, Composer.   (b. c.1868 - b. 1917) Joplin is one of the best-known of American composers.  Born in Texarkana, his mother was a singer and played the banjo. His father was a violinist.  Joplin himself learned to play the guitar but became interested in the piano. A German music teacher, impressed with his talent, taught him more formally.  He also learned to play the cornet. Joplin went on to graduate from college, led a band at the Chicago World’s Fair and began composing ragtime tunes. He was serious about this effort, writing works on the technicalities of this genre.  He began to take an interest in what he considered more serious genres, especially opera. His first opera was called A Guest of Honor. Due to theft of box office receipts he lost tremendously on this project. A later opera, Treemonisha, which presaged Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, was produced on a small scale during his lifetime.  He also owned his own music publishing company. Joplin’s health declined due to syphilis and he died at about age 48-49, leaving behind a legacy of inventive and ground-breaking music. His popular music has seen several periods of revival, the most recent when it was quite central - almost a character in itself - in the hit movie, The Sting (1973).  It has never faded since that time.  

Here’s a trailer for The Sting - with the ever-present Joplin score: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN2hBOIXhBs\

Peacherine Rag (vintage piano roll): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VVCDaS7u3g

Solace (A Mexican Serenade): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKNHp-daefk

Leontyne Price, Soprano.  (b. 1927)  Born in Laurel, MS, Price was the first Black American to have a leading role in the Metropolitan Opera.  As a child she showed keen interest in music and her parents traded their phonograph for an upright piano so she could take lessons.  Price planned to become a music teacher but in college her vocal talents became apparent and her life took a different course which led to a scholarship at Juilliard.  She specialized in the operas of Verdi, Puccini and Mozart and was noted for her rich and powerful voice. Following her retirement from the opera stage in 1985, Price continued her recital career for over a decade longer.  She has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom among many other honors.  

Leontyne Price in Aida, "O Patria Mia": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaV6sqFUTQ4

Quincy Jones, Composer, Producer.  (b. 1933)  With seven Oscar nominations, Quincy Jones is best known for his immensely successful career in film.  Born in Chicago, to a middle-class family. His genealogy reveals that he shares common ancestry with Tennessee Williams and myself, and in fact, is eligible for membership in the Sons of Confederate Veterans because an ancestor on his mother’s side fought for the Confederacy.  During WWII, his father got a job at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington and the family moved there. One of Jones’ great inspirations was Ray Charles, to whom he introduced himself at age 14, after hearing him play. He went on tour with the great jazz artist Lionel Hampton.  In the 50s he played in a band backing up Elvis Presley. His career moved toward producing, arranging and composing and he has composed the scores for about 35 movies, including The Italian Job, Cactus Flower, The Out-of-Towners, McKenna’s Gold and The Color Purple being but a few. He has also been a vigorous activist for civil rights and humanitarian causes.

Here’s a conversation with Quincy Jones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrnywDs1BMw

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