Harry T. Burleigh is one of the great unsung figures in American music – which is ironic, since it was his singing that changed the course of history.

Burleigh was a student at the National Conservatory of Music in New York, where he studied with, among others, Rubin Goldmark, the conservative pedagogue who later gave lessons to Copland and Gershwin. It just so happens that his attendance there coincided with the tenure of Antonin Dvořák as the conservatory’s director. Dvořák overheard young Burleigh singing African American spirituals and was transfixed. Burleigh frequently sang spirituals for Dvořák and worked for him as a copyist beginning in 1893.

Spirituals, of course, became an important part of the “New World” Symphony’s DNA. Since Dvořák’s masterwork was intended, in part, as instructional, leading American composers by example to a distinctively national sound, the significance of Burleigh’s influence becomes inescapable.

Burleigh also served as a double-bassist and timpanist in the school’s orchestra, which Dvořák conducted. He was born in Stamford, CT, on this date in 1866.

More about Burleigh:

Goin’ Home:

Wade in de Water:

Happy Birthday, Harry!