#ClassicsaDay #BlackHistoryMonth Week 2
By Ralph Graves
The Classics a Day team has celebrated Balck composers before. This time around, I tried to avoid duplication with previous posts. It was easy to do. There is a lot of classical music by persons of color, both in the past as well as the present. A lot.
Here are my posts for the second week of #BlackHistoryMonth for #ClassicsaDay.
02/08/21 Florence Price – Ethiopia’s Shadow in America (1932)
According to Price, the work’s three movements portray the Negro arriving in America as a slave, his resignation and faith, and finally his adaptation, fusing his native and acquired cultures.
02/09/21 Irene Britton Smith – Sonata for Violin and Piano
Smith pioneered music education methods for young children. She also studied composition with Leo Sowerby and Nadia Boulanger. This sonata is one of her grad school compositions.
02/10/21 Josh Coyne – Soon
Most of Coyne’s works are inspired by the African-American experience. “Soon” is based on the spiritual “Soon Ah Will Be Done.”
02/11/21 Kenneth Amis
Jamaican-born Amis is a tuba player and an important composer for brass. He’s held the International Brass Chair at the Royal Academy of Music.
02/12/21 Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson – Movement for String Trio
Perkinson was a true eclectic. In addition to his classical works, he also played piano for Max Roach, arranged for Marvin Gaye, and wrote film and TV scores.
