African American Conductors Conducting, as we know it today is less than two centuries old.1 On the other hand time beating; a way of holding players and/or singers together, has been around for several centuries. 1 In the absence of written notation, the leader’s hands indicated the direction of the group. As polyphony entered the musical picture, it became essential that the beats be on target. Interpretation at the time was of no importance. It has been indicated through engravings that in addition to hands, leaders of instrumental and vocal forces utilized a foot, a stick, a pendulum, a handkerchief, or maybe even a piece of paper. 1 In the seventeenth century the element of interpretation entered the music scene, enhancing the role of the leader greatly. This freedom of interpretation increased the conductors responsibility, although no universal practices existed. Gradually the method of time beating approached uniformity; as meters became established, so did the conductors movements.1 In the eighteenth century two conductors were often used for operas.1 One conductor would direct the singers and the other conductor would direct the orchestra. On occasion there were three directors. The principle or lead violinist would often be the lead director, followed by the keyboard player and a conductor. 1 Orchestras without conductors also existed during this period, a tradition still continued today in chamber orchestras. 1 Gradually the lead violinist director became more important than any other type of director transforming himself into lead conductor. 1 The violinist would lead the orchestra by using the violin bow to conduct in the same manner that the baton would be used later.1 By the early period of the nineteenth century, about the time the size of the orchestra had expanded tremendously, a conductor had become a fixture. This paper will inform the reader on a brief history of conductors in general, the importance of a conductor, the history of black conductors, important and revolutionary black conductors, the future and popularity of black conductors, and how black conductors influenced the art of conducting. The art of conducting goes back centuries. It is hard to place an exact date and assign a specific person the honor of being the first conductor. However, an Italian-born, French-educated Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) is generally des... ... middle of paper ... ...with their children. Only a strong effort will ensure more black members of the orchestra, more blacks in the audience, more blacks as orchestra managers and executive directors, and more black conductors on the podiums of U.S. orchestras. Dixon and Lewis are the protégées of a promising future for black conductors. They and many other black conductors have pushed to enter the 20th century now black conductors must establish themselves in the 21st century. Bibliography “Biographies”.wysiwyg://49/http://www.nviclassical.com/links/Dixon.htm. Handy, Antoinette. Black Conductors London: The Scarecrow Press, 1995 Obituary. ”Henry Lewis, pioneer black classical music conductor and director, succumbs to heart attack”. Jet (February 1996) pp.62 West, Cornel and Salzman, Jack. Encyclopedia of African American Culture and History. New York: Schuster and Simon and the trustees of Columbia University Press, 1996. Wheeler, Robyn. “Making classical history”. American Visions (March 1993) pp.44 Wright, Marian. Black Americans, New York: Gale Research Inc, 1994.
Stravinsky explains how he feels that conductors are untalented musicians that are an unnecessary part of a musical through the presence of diction. In the opening paragraph of the passage, conducting is expressed as a field in which a conductor can be a “incomplete musician” but must be a “compleat angler.” The passage conveys a negative view of conductors in which the most important talent they should have is exploiting their audiences’ lack of understanding of good music while needing very little actual talent in order to become successful. Conductors have an “ego disease” that encourages them give off an “egotistical, false, and arbitrary authority” ...
Conductors are seen as the leader of an orchestra or band and are given most if not all the credit for the music played. For such a simple task that consists of counting the beats, showing the mood for the music, and giving people cues to enter, conductors are as good as their orchestra or band, not by their talent. In this passage by Igor Stravinsky, Stravinsky discusses that the work the conductor puts in is negligible to the work the orchestra it self and that concerts should be about the complex qualities of the music played instead of how the conductor impacts the performance.
Keen, Benjamin. 1969. The Black Legend Revisited: Assumptions and realities. The Hispanic American Historical Review. volume 49. no. 4
Gates J.R., Henry Louis & West, Cornel. The African-American Century. New York: The Free Press 2000
Smith, Douglas Alton. A History of the Lute from Antiquity to the Renaissance. Massechusetts: The Lute Society of America, Inc., 2002.
Antonio Stradivari, a man known by many as on of the greatest luthiers of all time. The question at hand is why? From as early as the early 1700’s Stradivari was well known in the music world and still is. His instruments are reproduced in order to fool consumers into buying an instrument that has the same design as a Strad. There are also luthiers that try to replicate Stradivari’s beautiful design for their own satisfaction. Antonio Stradivari’s instruments have become socially and technically popular over time due to his superior craftsmanship, and for others, its large price tag. Stradivari’s life, affecting how his instruments were made, changed the perception of his instruments technically and socially.
The African-American Years: Chronologies of American History and Experience. Ed. Gabriel Burns Stepto. New York: Charles Scribner 's Sons, 2003.
Historians Mary Dudziack, Micheal Krenn, and Thomas Borstlemann have been credited in this work for their contribution to the struggle for Black equality in that their scholarly contributions share the same historiography as Carol Andersons Eyes off the Prize. Author Carol Anderson uses their works to build upon her own thesis.
Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor is a staple in professional violin literature. The music starts out with the solo violin playing the main theme. It is noted that before Mendelssohn officia...
Ever since Christopher Columbus arrived in America in 1492, white people have constantly oppressed and discriminated against minority races. In my original essay, I addressed how leaders of the Black Arts Movement believed that the establishment of a separate Black culture provided the best opportunity for change to occur. During the time period of the Black Arts Movement, many thought that two separate spirits divided American society—a Black spirit and a White spirit. In the minds of African-Americans, the White spirit unfairly dominated and controlled America, leaving the Black spirit with little impact or voice in society. According to Larry Neal, “Western aesthetic has run its course: it is impossible to construct anything meaningful within
TitleAuthor/ EditorPublisherDate James Galways’ Music in TimeWilliam MannMichael Beazley Publishers1982 The Concise Oxford History of MusicGerald AbrahamOxford University Press1979 Music in Western CivilizationPaul Henry LangW. W. Norton and Company1941 The Ultimate Encyclopaedia of Classical MusicRobert AinsleyCarlton Books Limited1995 The Cambridge Music GuideStanley SadieCambridge University Press1985 School text: Western European Orchestral MusicMary AllenHamilton Girls’ High School1999 History of MusicRoy BennettCambridge University Press1982 Classical Music for DummiesDavid PogueIDG Books Worldwide,Inc1997
Shortly after Rachel was written in 1916, the New Negro Movement began to gain traction in the African American community. This broad cultural movement focused on promoting a public image of African Americans as industrious, urban, independent, and distinct from the subservient and illiterate “Old Negro” of the rural South. Unlike his predecessor, the New Negro was self-sufficient, intellectually sophisticated, creative, knowledgeable and proud of his racial heritage (Krasner, Beautiful Pageant 140). While these concepts had been promoted since the turn of the century, it was not until 1917-1918 that they began to crystalize as a concerted effort among African American intellectuals. These men actively supported the creation of black drama because they recognized that “At a time when African Americans had virtually no political recourse, their voice could best be heard through…a creative and humanistic effort to achieve the goal of civil rights by producing positive images of African Americans and promoting activism through art” (“New Negro Movement” 926). The New Negros therefore shared the same overall goal as black intellectuals such as DuBois, but believed that black artists should focus on presenting the reality and beauty of the “black human experience” instead of an idealized vision of what life should be. Ultimately, the transition from “political” art to that which held creativity in high esteem was complex and divisive. Fortunately, just as Dubois emerged as the primary advocate of the former Political Theatre, so too would Alain Locke help guide the New Negros to support the idea of Art Theatre.
Karenga, Malauna. Introduction to Black Studies. Los Angeles: University of Sankore Press Third Edition, 2002.
African American Review 32.2 (1998): 293-303. JSTOR.com - "The New York Times" Web. The Web. The Web. 11 April 2012.
Sundquist, Eric J. “Ralph Ellison, Jazz, and Louis Armstrong.” Bloom’s Literature. Facts on File, Inc., 1995. Web. 9 Jan. 2014.