Classic Ross Amico

Tag: William Levi Dawson

Princeton Symphony Celebrates Dawson Symphony

Well, Labor Day is behind us now, so I shouldn’t be surprised that the 2023-24 concert season is practically underway. The Princeton Symphony Orchestra is all set to go with its first pair of concerts, this weekend. And judging from the program, it’s going to be a good one.

In the wake of George Floyd, a lot of pieces by composers of color have been introduced or revived in our concert halls. William Levi Dawson’s “Negro Folk Symphony” is one of the best of these. I’ve played it on the radio many times – I own three recordings of it so far (Neeme Järvi’s being my preference) – but if you had asked me as recently as four years ago, I would have thought I would never have the opportunity to hear it live. Now, with the upcoming Princeton concerts, it will have been three times!

You won’t hear any complaints from me. Dawson’s symphony is the real deal.

The work was given its premiere by Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1934. Dawson revised it after a visit to West Africa in 1952. It is in this form that Stokowski recorded it.

However, likely due to lack of demand for his orchestral music, Dawson carved out a career largely as a choral music composer. In particular, he became a prominent arranger of spirituals.

A shame that he didn’t meet with more success in the concert hall. The symphony was well-received, but then nobody picked it up. With a little encouragement, perhaps there would have been a Symphony No. 2.

Also on the Princeton program will be the Saxophone Concerto of 1949 by French composer Henri Tomasi, with soloist Steven Banks, and “Forward into Light” of 2020 by Princeton composer Sarah Kirkland Snider. Snider’s piece, inspired by the American women’s suffrage movement, incorporates a quotation from “March of the Women,” written in 1910, by English composer and agitator Dame Ethel Smyth.

The concert will be presented twice at Richard Auditorium in Alexander Hall on the campus of Princeton University, this Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m. The PSO’s music director, Rossen Milanov, will conduct. For tickets and more information about the impending season, visit princetonsymphony.org.

September 5, 2023
Rediscovering Dett’s “Ordering of Moses”

There have been innumerable musical treatments of Moses and the Exodus story, reaching back to at least the Renaissance. On this first day of Passover, it’s time to give “The Ordering of Moses” its due.

R. Nathaniel Dett was born in what is now Niagara Falls, Ontario, the grandson of a refugee who fled slavery on the Underground Railroad. He became an important figure in American music of his time, but it’s not until comparatively recently that we’ve had many opportunities to hear much beyond “Juba,” the last movement of one of his piano suites, “In the Bottoms,” championed by Percy Grainger and others.

Though he is remembered primarily, if at all, for his exquisite keyboard works, Dett also composed a handful of pieces for more ambitious forces, none of them more so than “The Ordering of Moses.” Scored for vocal soloists, chorus, and orchestra, the work was presented as his graduation thesis at the Eastman School of Music in 1932. It received its first public performance by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, at the Cincinnati May Festival, on a concert broadcast over NBC radio, in 1937. Three quarters of the way through, the work was interrupted, allegedly because of a scheduling conflict.

In 1956, the piece was revived and recorded, also at the Cincinnati May Festival, with Leontyne Price and William Warfield.

More recently, in 2014, James Conlon conducted it in Cincinnati. A follow-up performance at Carnegie Hall was documented by Bridge Records, Inc., a superb account that finally brought the music some of the notice it deserves. Astonished critics asked the obvious question: how is it possible that such a powerful work could have languished for so long?

Did NBC indeed run into a scheduling conflict during that first concert broadcast, or did those in charge cave to listener complaints? After all, this was one of the first works of classical music by a Black composer ever to have been given that kind of exposure, broadcast as it was over a national radio network.

Whatever the truth, now is the time not to deny the past but also to look to the future. In this third decade of the 21st century, can “The Ordering of Moses” finally be appreciated on its own merits?

This performance, from 1968, was captured in Mobile, AL, conducted by William Levi Dawson.

Dawson was born in Anniston, AL. He himself proved to be a remarkable composer. With the current, belated wave of music by composers of color on our concert programs, Dawson’s “Negro Folk Symphony,” after decades of neglect, is popping up everywhere. You won’t hear any complaints from me. This symphony is the real deal.

The work was given its premiere by Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1934. Dawson revisited the piece after a visit to West Africa in 1952. It is in this form that Stokowski recorded it. I own three recordings of it so far (Neeme Järvi’s being my preference), but I never dreamed I would ever have the opportunity hear it live!

Likely due to lack of demand for his orchestral music, Dawson carved out a career as a choral music composer. In particular, he became a prominent arranger of spirituals.

A shame that he didn’t meet with more success in the concert hall. With a little encouragement, perhaps there would have been a Symphony No. 2.

William Levi Dawson’s superlative “Negro Folk Symphony”

One of the world’s foremost authorities on Dett happens to live and work in our area. Clipper Erickson, on the faculty of Temple University and Westminster Conservatory, was the first to record Dett’s complete piano works, for Navona Records. Clipper walks the walk, and has done so for decades, often including Dett’s music in his rich and varied recitals.

Clipper Erickson, piano, plays the “Barcarolle” from the suite “In the Bottoms.”

“In the Bottoms” concludes with Dett’s most famous music, “Juba.”

Here’s “The Ordering of Moses,” in more up-to-date sound, in the performance released on Bridge Records. The movements are posted separately, so you’ll have to let them play through, skipping any ads along the way.

Passover is a time to celebrate freedom. It reminds us of hope and elation at the prospect of a brighter future. It is for the benefit of all to learn from the wrongs of the past and endeavor to do better.

April 6, 2023
Margaret Bonds & Black Classical Pioneers

Margaret Bonds was one of the first Black composers and performers of classical music to gain recognition in the U.S. Born in Chicago on March 3, 1913, she is perhaps best-remembered for her collaborations with Langston Hughes and for her piano work “Troubled Water.”

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll pay tribute to Bonds and her notable teachers, Florence Price and William Levi Dawson, both of whom were also important figures in the development of African-American art music.

Price is regarded as the first African-American woman to have composed symphonies. She wrote three of them. One was performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She also wrote orchestral works, chamber music, instrumental music, and numerous choral and vocal pieces. She and Bonds shared not only a teacher-student relationship, but also became very good friends. Tonight, we’ll hear Price’s “Fantasie Nègre.”

In addition to his many fine works for chorus, Dawson is notable for having written one of the most successful symphonies by an African-American composer, the so-called “Negro Folk Symphony.” The work was composed in 1934 and given its first performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra, under Leopold Stokowski. Dawson revised the piece in 1952, following a trip to West Africa, where he was influenced by the indigenous rhythms he encountered there. Stokowski later recorded the piece, as did Neeme Järvi with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

In 1933, Bonds appeared as a piano soloist with the Chicago Symphony. She performed Price’s Piano Concerto with the Women’s Symphony Orchestra of Chicago the next year. In 1939, she moved to New York, where she continued her studies at the Juilliard School. She also studied privately with Roy Harris.

For all her accomplishments – her collaborations with Langston Hughes, her establishment of a cultural community center in Harlem, and the composition of two ballets and several theater works – the Bonds discography is woefully thin. She’ll be represented tonight by her cycle of four songs, “Ah! Love But a Day,” and by her most-recorded piano work, “Troubled Water.”

Shortly before her death in Los Angeles in 1972 (at the age of 59), Bonds’ “Credo” for baritone, chorus and orchestra was performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, under the direction of Zubin Mehta. Would that they had recorded it!

Make an investment in Bonds. That’s “Educational Bonds” – music by Margaret Bonds and her teachers – this Sunday night at 10:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

February 16, 2020
Classical Music Today on The Classical Network

Afro-British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) scored his biggest hit with “Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast.” The cantata became something of a cultural phenomenon between the wars. Sir Malcolm Sargent led performances of the piece annually, from 1928 to 1939, in a costumed, semi-ballet version, featuring close to a thousand performers. Unfortunately, the composer did not live to enjoy his success, nor did his heirs receive any royalties, as he had sold the music outright (for 15 guineas – about $2160 US).

We’ll get a taste of “Hiawatha” at 2:00 this afternoon on The Classical Network. “Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast” is the first part of a larger oratorio, “The Song of Hiawatha.” A complete recording, released on the Argo label back in 1992, features a rising star by the name of Bryn Terfel – but it is Arthur Davies who sings the work’s hit tune, “Onaway! Awake, Beloved!”

Antonin Dvořák was also very much enamored with Longfellow’s most famous poem. It’s said that he jotted the theme for the slow movement to his Sonatina for Violin and Piano, Op. 100, onto his starched cuff during a visit to Minnehaha Falls. The melody became popularized as “Indian Lament.” Dvořák wrote the Sonatina with his children in mind. We’ll hear it performed by brother and sister Gil and Orli Shaham.

Then stay tuned at 3:00 for William Levi Dawson’s epic “Negro Folk Symphony.” The work was introduced by Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1934. Dawson revamped the piece in 1952, following a trip to West Africa. It was Stokowski who made the world premiere recording of the symphony, in its revised and expanded form. We’ll hear it played in a fine modern recording by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra conducted by Neeme Järvi.

If you happened to miss David Baker’s Cello Sonata this past Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” tune in today for his “Jazz Suite for Clarinet and Symphony Orchestra: Three Ethnic Dances.” Clarinetist Alan Balter will perform with the Akron Symphony Orchestra.

The afternoon will commence with today’s Noontime Concert, featuring members of the Dolce Suono Ensemble. The group’s flagship trio will present a mix of classics and commissions. The “classics” are by Mendelssohn and Martinu, and the “commissions” were fulfilled by Jeremy Gill and Zhou Tian. The broadcast will conclude with an arrangement of Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide Overture.” Flutist and founding artistic director Mimi Stillman will be joined by cellist Nathan Vickery and pianist Charles Abramovic. The concert took place on October 14 at Trinity Center for Urban Life, 22nd and Spruce Streets, in Philadelphia.

Dolce Suono’s next concert, “Rediscoveries,” will take place tomorrow night at 7:00, again at Trinity Center for Urban Life. That program will include works by three American masters who were revered at mid-century, but whose music in recent decades has fallen into comparative neglect – Irving Fine, William Schuman, and Norman Dello Joio. Also on the program will be works by Elliot Carter, Leonard Bernstein, Shulamit Ran, and the late Katherine Hoover. For more information, look online at dolcesuono.org.

If you’ve a tooth for “sweet sound” (or “dolce suono”), satisfy the craving from 12 to 4 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

PHOTO: Coleridge-Taylor and his family, wife Jessie and children Gwendolyn and Hiawatha (rear)

February 19, 2019
Margaret Bonds & Her Influential Teachers

Margaret Bonds was one of the first black composers and performers to gain recognition in the U.S. Born in Chicago on March 3, 1913, she is perhaps best-remembered for her collaborations with Langston Hughes and for her piano work “Troubled Water.”

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll pay tribute to Bonds and her notable teachers, Florence Price and William Levi Dawson, both of whom were also important figures in the history of African American art music.

Price is considered the first African American woman to have composed symphonies. She wrote three of them (one was performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra). She also wrote orchestral works, chamber music, instrumental music, and numerous choral and vocal pieces. She and Bonds shared not only a teacher-student relationship, but also became very good friends. Tonight, we’ll hear Price’s “Fantasie Negre.”

In addition to his many, many fine works for chorus, Dawson is notable for having written one of the most successful symphonies by an African-American composer, the so-called “Negro Folk Symphony.” The work was composed in 1934 and given its first performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra, under Leopold Stokowski. Dawson revised the piece in 1952, following a trip to West Africa, where he was influenced by the indigenous rhythms he encountered there. Stokowski later recorded the piece, as did Neeme Jarvi with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. I have a preference for the latter recording.

In 1933, Bonds appeared as a piano soloist with the Chicago Symphony. She performed Price’s Piano Concerto with the Women’s Symphony Orchestra of Chicago the next year. In 1939, she moved to New York, where she continued her studies at the Juilliard School. She also studied privately with Roy Harris.

For all her accomplishments, her collaborations with Langston Hughes, her establishment of a cultural community center in Harlem, and the composition of two ballets and several theatre works, the Bonds discography is woefully thin. She’ll be represented tonight by her cycle of four songs, “Ah! Love But a Day,” and by her most-recorded piano work, “Troubled Water.”

Shortly before her death in Los Angeles in 1972 (at the age of 59), Bonds’ “Credo” for baritone, chorus and orchestra was performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, under the direction of Zubin Mehta. Would that they had recorded it!

I hope you’ll join me for “Educational Bonds” – music by Margaret Bonds and her teachers – this Sunday night at 10:00 EST on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

February 19, 2017

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