Throughout the month of February, to coincide with Black History Month, I’ve been reaching into the archive for relevant material from “The Lost Chord,” originally broadcast over WWFM – The Classical Network.

My four-part survey, “Black to the Future,” celebrates the compact disc reissue – after 40 years – of Columbia Records’ landmark Black Composers Series. These visionary recordings, made under the direction of conductor Paul Freeman (pictured), were originally released on vinyl between 1974 and 1978. Now collected into a 10-CD box set by Sony Classical, they provide a rare overview of 200 years-worth of neglected music, from a time when most of it was essentially unknown. Indeed, there are still plenty of fascinating discoveries to be savored.

The third installment includes a Romantic violin concerto by Cuban composer José Silvestre de los Dolores White y Lafitte (José White, for short), a cello sonata written for Janos Starker by David Baker, and “Eight Miniatures for Small Orchestra” by Panamanian composer Roque Cordero.

https://www.wwfm.org/post/lost-chord-february-17-black-future-part-iii

If you missed it, here’s Part One, with music by Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Olly Wilson, and Fela Sowande:

https://www.wwfm.org/post/lost-chord-february-3-black-future

And Part Two, with works by George Walker and José Maurício Nunes Garcia:

https://www.wwfm.org/post/lost-chord-black-future-part-ii

Follow the links, click “listen,” and enjoy.