Research Catalog

Black women in American music

Title: Black women in American music : paper presentations and short art song recital (parts 1-2).
Author: National Congress on Women in Music (1st : 1981 : New York, N. Y.)
Publication: 1981.

Available Online

NYPL Digital Collections

Details

Additional Authors

Found In

First National Congress on Women in Music recordings, March 26-29, 1981

Description

5 streaming audio files (157:59) : digital, mono.

Summary

This recording contains four paper presentations, two short art song recitals and a panel discussion of "Black women in American music". During his introductions in part 1, moderator Raoul Abdul (New York Amsterdam News music critic, author, concert singer and faculty member of the Harlem School of the Arts) talked about all the Black women in music that had inspired him in his musical journey from Ohio (Dr. Zelma Watson George, Dr. Frances Cole, Leota Palmer and Natalie Hinderas (Ms. Palmer's daughter)), and the ones that inspire him now (Edith Oliver (saxophonist) ; Lucille Dixon (double bassist/general manager of Symphony of the New World) ; Ann Hobson [Pilot] (principal harpist, Boston Symphony) ; Doriot Anthony Dwyer (first female principal flutist, Boston Symphony) ; Zela Terry (cellist, New York Philharmonic) ; Patricia Prattis Jennings (pianist, Pittsburgh Symphony) ; Sarah Caldwell (opera director) ; Dolores Ardoyno (Opera/South general manager) ; Clarissa Cumbo (founder of Triad Presentations Inc.) ; Nora Douglas Holt and Perdita Duncan (music critics, Amsterdam News) ; Dorothy Maynor (founder of Harlem School of the Arts) and Betty Allen (executive director, Harlem School of the Arts). Jacqueline Thompson (Kansas City Conservatory of Music) talks about Black women composers/performers in her paper: Margaret Bonds, Dorothy Rudd Moore, Undine Smith Moore, Julia Perry, Zenobia Perry, Florence B. Price, Mary Lou Williams and Shirley Graham McCanns (also known as Shirley Graham Du Bois). Professor Eileen Southern (Harvard University) talks about these Black Prima Donnas: Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, Nellie Brown Mitchell, Marie Selika Williams, Anna Madah Hyers and Emma Louise Hyers (sisters), Flora Batson Bergen and Matilda Sisseretta Jones. Dr. Barbara Garvey Jackson talks about the working relationship as educator and student between composers Florence B. Price and Margaret Bonds. Dr. Ora Williams presents her paper about these Black American women composers: Camille Nickerson, Azalia Hackley, Lillian Evanti, Florence B. Price, and Dorothy Rudd Moore; she performs various songs by these composers along with her sisters Thelma Williams, Barbara Williams and Dottie Stallworth inadvertently during the presentations. The session resumes with a panel discussion featuring commentary by composer Zenobia Powell Perry, her daughter Janis Peri (vocalist), and composers Undine Smith Moore and Jeraldine Herbison.

Alternative Title

Lizette.
Dear, I love you so.
Sleep, my dear.
First National Congress on Women in Music recordings.

Subjects

Genre/Form

Panel discussions.

Note

Former classmark on original cassette: *LTC 103 (F)
Title from original cassette label; additional information from catalog (cassette tapes, schedule of meetings and concerts, and newspaper clippings ([16], 46, [21] p.); Available on request.

Access (note)

Access via streaming audio restricted to onsite at New York Public Library secure reading rooms.

Language (note)

Spoken and sung in English; some songs originally in Louisiana French Creole (1st-2nd works only)

Linking Entry (note)

Forms part of: First National Congress on Women in Music recordings.

Contents

[Part 1]: [Introductions ; His personal relations with Black women musicians/educators that have inspired him (23:58)] (Raoul Abdul, moderator) -- Session 4 papers: "Composers who are Black American women" / Jacqueline Thompson.
[Part 2]: [Introductions and remarks] (Dr. Ora Williams) -- Art song recital (part 1): "Lizette" = Lizette, ma chêre amie ; "Dear, I love you so" = Chère mo lemmé toi / arranged by Camille Nickerson (Dr. Ora Williams, vocals ; Thelma Williams, piano) ; "Guide me, Jesus" / Thelma Williams (Dr. Ora Williams, vocals ; Barbara Williams, cello ; Thelma Williams, piano) -- Session 4 papers: "Black Prima Donnas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries" / Eileen Southern [ends abruptly]
[Part 3]: [Excerpt, end of] "Black Prima Donnas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries" / Eileen Southern -- [Brief introduction] (Raoul Abdul, moderator) -- "A Black woman composer and her student: Florence Price and Margaret Bonds" ; [Pre-recorded music excerpts] Symphony in E minor: themes from 1st-2nd and slow movements / Florence Price (University of Arkansas Orchestra?)] ; [with brief biographies of Harriet Gibbs Marshall (pianist) and William Grant Still (African American Symphony)] / Dr. Barbara Garvey Jackson (Professor of Music, University of Arkansas)
[Part 4]: [Introductions ; Commentary] (Raoul Abdul, moderator) -- [Excerpt] "An analysis of American Black women's art songs" (also known as "The art songs of American Black women") / Dr. Ora Williams (Professor of English, California State University at Long Beach) ; Art song recital (part 2): "Carola: a serenade" ("Sleep my dear...") / Azalia Hackley (Dr. Ora Williams, vocals ; Thelma Williams, piano) ; Poem: "I, too, [sing America]" / Langston Hughes (Dr. Ora Williams) ; [Excerpt] Lillian Evanti's "Speak to him, thou" (lyrics only) (words originally from the poem "Higher pantheism" / Alfred Lloyd Tennyson) (Dr. Ora Williams) ; Dedication (piano part only) / Lillian Evanti (Thelma Willams, piano) ; "Night" / Florence B. Price (Louise C. Wallace, lyricist) (Dr. Ora Williams, vocals ; Thelma Williams, piano) [slightly erratic] ; "My soul's been anchored in de Lord" / Florence B. Price (piano part only; Thelma Williams, piano) ; [Background information of Dorothy Rudd Moore's song cycles "From the dark tower" and "Sonnets on love, rosebuds and death"] ; Poem: "I had no thought of violets" / Alice Dunbar Nelson (Dr. Ora Williams) ; [Excerpt] "I had no thoughts of violets" (piano introduction only; from the song cycle "Sonnets on love, rosebuds and death") / Dorothy Rudd Moore (Thelma Williams, piano) [ends abruptly]
[Part 5]: [Excerpt, to end] Paper: "An analysis of American Black women's art songs" / Dr. Ora Williams -- "Bend willow" ["Willow bend and weep"] (from the song cycle "From the dark tower") / Dorothy Rudd Moore (Janis Peri, vocals ; Dottie Stallworth, piano) -- Panel discussion [ends at 15:00]: [Introductions] (Raoul Abdul, moderator ; with Zenobia Smith Moore, Jeraldine Herbison and Undine Smith Moore, and featuring Dr. Merle Montgomery and Janis Peri, commentators) -- [Excerpt] [Two unidentified revolution songs; one rock and one acoustic] [Unidentified performers]

Call Number

*LTC-A 1367

OCLC

900616105

Conference

National Congress on Women in Music (1st : 1981 : New York, N. Y.)

Title

Black women in American music : paper presentations and short art song recital (parts 1-2).

Production

1981.

Playing Time

004053 003755 003020 002815 002036

Type of Content

spoken word

Type of Medium

audio

Type of Carrier

audiocassette

Performer

Jacqueline Thompson, Eileen Southern and Dr. Barbara Garvey Jackson, lecturers and commentary ; Dr. Ora Williams, vocals, lecturer and additional commentary ; Janis Perry, vocals and commentary ; Thelma Williams, piano ; Dottie Stallworth, piano ; Barbara Williams, cello ; Zenobia Powell Perry, Jeraldine Herbison and Undine Smith Moore, commentators ; Raoul Abdul, moderator.

Event

Recorded New York University, New York, N. Y. 1981 March 27.

Access

Access via streaming audio restricted to onsite at New York Public Library secure reading rooms.

Original Version

Archival originals: (3 audio cassettes : analog, mono) in *LTC-A 1367.

Language

Spoken and sung in English; some songs originally in Louisiana French Creole (1st-2nd works only)

Linking Entry

Forms part of: First National Congress on Women in Music recordings.

Local Note

Preservation files: (5 audio files : digital, WAV file, 96 kHz, 24 bit), in long term storage, Digital Library Processing server [myh_ltca1367_v01f01_em (part 1), myh_ltca1367_v01f02_em (part 2), myh_ltca1367_v02f01_em (part 3), myh_ltca1367_v02f02_em (part 4) and myh_ltca1367_v03f01_em (part 5)].

Connect to:

NYPL Digital Collections

Added Author

Abdul, Raoul, moderator.

Abdul, Raoul, commentator.

Thompson, Jacqueline Kay, lecturer.

Williams, Ora, 1926- lecturer.

Southern, Eileen, lecturer.

Jackson, Barbara Garvey, lecturer.

Perry, Zenobia Powell, 1908-2004, commentator.

Moore, Undine S., commentator.

Herbison, Jeraldine Saunders, commentator.

Montgomery, Merle, 1904-1986, commentator.

Peri, Janis-Rozena, commentator.

Nickerson, Camille, arranger of music.

Wallace, Louise C., lyricist.

Williams, Ora, 1926- performer.

Williams, Thelma (Pianist), performer.

Williams, Barbara (Cellist), performer.

Stallworth, Dottie, performer.

Peri, Janis-Rozena, performer.

Container of (work): Thompson, Jacqueline Kay. Composers who are American Black women.

Container of (work): Williams, Thelma (Pianist). Guide me Jesus.

Container of (work): Southern, Eileen. Black Prima Donnas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Container of (work): Price, Florence, 1887-1953. Symphonies, no. 1, E minor. Selections.

Container of (work): Williams, Ora, 1926- Analysis of American Black women's art songs. Selections.

Container of (work): Hackley, E. Azalia (Emma Azalia), 1867-1922. Carola. Selections.

Container of (work): Hughes, Langston, 1902-1967. I, too, sing America.

Container of (work): Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892. Higher pantheism. Selections.

Container of (work): Evanti, Lillian, 1890-1967. Dedication; arranged.

Container of (work): Price, Florence, 1887-1953. Night.

Container of (work): Price, Florence, 1887-1953. My soul's been anchored in de Lord; arranged.

Container of (work): Jackson, Barbara Garvey. Black woman composer and her student: Florence Price and Margaret Bonds.

Container of (work): Dunbar-Nelson, Alice Moore, 1875-1935. I had no thoughts of violets. Selections.

Container of (work): Moore, Dorothy Rudd, 1940-2022. Sonnets on love, rosebuds and death. I had no thoughts of violets. Selections; arranged.

Container of (work): Moore, Dorothy Rudd, 1940-2022. From the dark tower. Willow bend and weep.

Added Title

Lizette.

Dear, I love you so.

Sleep, my dear.

First National Congress on Women in Music recordings.

Found In:

First National Congress on Women in Music recordings, March 26-29, 1981

Research Call Number

*LTC-A 1367

*LTC 103 sess. 4 no. 1 sides 1-5 (former classmark)

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