During Black History Month, I thought it would be good time to share some archived episodes I put together for “The Lost Chord,” on WWFM – The Classical Network, to celebrate the reissue – after 40 years – of Columbia Records’ Black Composers Series.

The series was the brainchild of conductor Paul Freeman, who drew from 200 years-worth of neglected repertoire written by composers of color. The performances were released on nine LPs. Trying to collect them over the decades has been like panning for gold for us classical music prospectors.

Astonishingly, the boxed set of ten CDs, now including a bonus disc of spiritual arrangements, was simply dropped on the market with zero advertising, not even on the Sony Classical website. News was circulated strictly through word of mouth and thanks to bloggers and broadcasters like myself. For me, it was totally unexpected, and the adrenaline surged, when I spotted it on the shelf at Princeton Record Exchange.

Thankfully, in the decades since the project was first undertaken, a handful of the composers have entered the fringes of the concert repertoire, but there are still a number of fascinating discoveries to be savored.

George Walker’s “Lyric for Strings” (not included in the set) has found particular success recently, and deservedly so. Part Two of my “Lost Chord” broadcasts devoted to the subject (the second of a four-part series) includes Walker’s Trombone Concerto and a Requiem Mass from 1816 by the Brazilian composer José Maurício Nunes Garcia. Walker, not incidentally, was the first African-American recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

I am linking webcasts of the individual segments on Saturdays throughout February. Follow the links, click “listen,” and enjoy.

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

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