Classic Ross Amico

Tag: George Walker

Black Composers Series Reissue Celebrated

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

February 13, 2021
Walt Whitman Songs of Democracy

“Happiness… not in another place but this place, not for another hour but this hour…”

Celebrate America’s national poet with the first of four installments, in anticipation of the 200th anniversary of Walt Whitman, on May 31, 1819. Enjoy music inspired by his verse, including choral works, orchestral pieces, and songs, from an international array of composers.

This week, it’s an all-American program, featuring selections by Roy Harris, Frederick Converse, and Pulitzer Prize-winner George Walker.

Re-examine all that you have been told. Join me in honoring Walt Whitman with “Songs of Democracy,” on “The Lost Chord,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

May 5, 2019
Walt Whitman’s Musical Legacy on WWFM

Walt Whitman was born in Huntingdon, NY, on Long Island, on May 31, 1819. He died in Camden, NJ, on March 26, 1892.

We’ll celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of this most influential of American poets all month long, Sunday nights on “The Lost Chord,” with music inspired by his verse, including choral works, orchestral pieces, and songs, from an array of international composers.

Tune in this week for an all-American program, featuring selections by Roy Harris, Frederick Shepherd Converse, and Pulitzer Prize-winner George Walker.

Harris, who lived from 1898 to 1979, was one of our great symphonists. His Symphony No. 3 enjoyed particular acclaim. He certainly had the makings of a Man of Destiny – born in log cabin on Lincoln’s birthday, in Lincoln County, Oklahoma.

We’ll enjoy his 1959 setting of “Give Me the Splendid Silent Sun,” for baritone and orchestra. The poem first appeared in Whitman’s “Drum-Taps,” in 1865. Whitman had returned to Brooklyn, on the verge of mental collapse, following his experiences working in army hospitals in the field for three years during the Civil War.

Then we’ll turn to a work by George Walker, who lived from 1922 to 2018. Walker was the first African-American recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music – as recently as 1996 – for his work, “Lilacs,” for soprano and orchestra.

“Lilacs” falls into four sections, utilizing the first three and 13th stanzas from Walt Whitman’s “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d,” a poignant meditation on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Finally, we’ll bask in a romantic effusion of Frederick Shepherd Converse. Converse lived from 1871 to 1940, the only composer tonight whose life actually overlapped with that of Whitman.

Converse was born in Newton, Massachusetts. He studied composition with George Whitefield Chadwick, and in Munich with Josef Rheinberger. His opera, “The Pipe of Desire,” was the first by an American to be performed at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, in 1905.

From 1904, we’ll hear his orchestral fantasy, “The Mystic Trumpeter.” The literary program, taken from “Leaves of Grass,” was manipulated by the composer to suit his own structural needs. The work’s five sections – “Mystery and Peace;” “Love;” “War and Struggle;” “Humiliation;” and “Joy” – are played without pause.

Sing the body electric, as we honor Walt Whitman, Sunday nights in May at 10:00 EDT. That’s “Songs of Democracy,” on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

PHOTOS: Uncle Walt with (top to bottom) Roy Harris, George Walker, and Frederick Shepherd Converse

May 5, 2019
Black Composers Garcia & Walker on “Lost Chord”

Hear contrasting works by José Maurício Nunes Garcia and George Walker tonight on “The Lost Chord.”

Walker was the first African-American recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music – as recently as 1996 – for his “Lilacs for Voice and Orchestra.” He was the first black musician to graduate from the Curtis Institute of Music. He also studied at the Eastman School and was a pupil of Nadia Boulanger. Tune in for Walker’s Trombone Concerto of 1957.

Then it’s off to South America for Nunes Garcia’s Requiem Mass of 1816. Nunes Garcia was Master of Music of the Royal Chapel in Rio de Janeiro. He composed over four hundred pieces of music, including the first Brazilian opera. The Requiem was written at the request of John VI of Portugal for funeral services for his mother, Maria I.

Join me for this second installment in celebration of the reissue on Sony Classical, after 40 years, of the legendary Black Composers Series. We’re sharing highlights throughout #BlackHistoryMonth, Sunday nights at 10:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

February 10, 2019
Black Composers Series Reissue Neglect

This is really weird. Arguably the most exciting set of reissues in years, and Sony Classical is giving it absolutely no promotion. It’s not on their Facebook page. It’s not listed anywhere on their official website. Instead, they keep pushing their recording of the same old tired New Year’s Concert from Vienna.

Yet I know for a fact that my postings about, and airing highlights from, the newly released “Black Composers Series” have generated notable enthusiasm and resulted in a number of confirmed orders. It’s evident from social media that others who have learned of its reappearance are no less excited. Unfortunately, it looks like, if this set is going to achieve anywhere near the success it deserves, it’s going to have to be totally through word of mouth. Which is a real shame, Sony.

The Black Composers Series was a bold undertaking in the 1970s, a pioneering effort and an idealistic investment in the future – nine albums of unknown repertoire by minority composers, only several of whom may have been on the very periphery of a few collectors’ consciousness, at best. Even so, it’s rumored that the series was originally intended to run to 20 volumes. We are so lucky to have what we got.

On some level, it’s hardly surprising that the plug might have been pulled 40 years ago. After all, the series was a bold gamble. (On the other hand, record labels did take more chances back then, and it was an accepted fact that classical records needed time to find their audience.)

Sadly it appears that, even all these years later, the Black Composers’ Series struggles for the exposure and respect it deserves. It’s especially distressing that the company that produced it displays so little confidence, or perhaps awareness, of its true worth that they have essentially just dumped it on the market.

I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. I am so, so happy that Sony finally got around to making these recordings available again. I only wish the label were more nurturing.

Be that as it may, I’ll continue to do what I can by devoting the entire month of February, #BlackHistoryMonth, to airing highlights from this terrific set. Tune in tonight to hear works by George Walker (pictured) and José Maurício Nunes Garcia.

Walker was the first African-American recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music – as recently as 1996 – for his work, “Lilacs for Voice and Orchestra.” He was the first black musician to graduate from the Curtis Institute of Music and a pupil of Nadia Boulanger. We’ll hear his virtuosic Trombone Concerto of 1957.

Then we’ll travel to South America for music by Nunes Garcia. Nunes Garcia was Master of Music of the Royal Chapel in Rio de Janeiro. He composed over four hundred pieces of music, including the first Brazilian opera. We’ll hear his Requiem Mass, from 1816, written at the request of John VI of Portugal for funeral services for his mother, Maria I.

It’s just an example of this set’s amazing diversity. I hope you’ll join me “Black to the Future, Part II” – the second of four programs devoted to Columbia Records’ forward-looking, if neglected, Black Composers Series – this Sunday night at 10:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

February 10, 2019

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