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Black Swans: The Earliest African-American Classical Stars 1917-22

£10.47

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Label: Parnassus

Cat No: PACD96067

Barcode: 0602003687310

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Release Date: 6th September 2019

Artists

Harry Burleigh (baritone)
Edward HS Boatner (bass-baritone)
Lawrence Brown (piano)
Florence Cole-Talbert (soprano)
R Nathaniel Dett (piano)
Antoinette Garnes (soprano)
Roland Hayes (tenor)
William Leonard King (piano)
Hattie King Reavis (contralto)
Clarence Cameron White (violin)
G Sumner Wormley (baritone)

Artists

About

This CD contains the first recordings made by black classical performers, singers and instrumentalists, dating from approximately 1917-1922. Only 5 of them have ever been reissued before. Together they provide a demonstration of the forgotten culture of black performers in classical music from the early 20th century.

Includes Harry Burleigh, who introduced Dvořák to American music!

Contents:
1. Go Down Moses (arr. Burleigh)

- Harry Burleigh (baritone) (1919)

2. I Don’t Feel Noways Tired (probably arr. Burleigh)
- Edward H.S. Boatner (bass-baritone) (1919)
3. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child (probably arr. Burleigh)

- Edward H.S. Boatner (1919)

4. Dett - In the Bottoms: Barcarolle
- R. Nathaniel Dett (piano) (1919)
5. Dett - Magnolia Suite: Mammy

- R. Nathanial Dett (piano) (1919)

6. Delibes - Lakmé: Bell Song (in French)
- Florence Cole-Talbert (soprano) (1921-1922)
7. The Last Rose of Summer (anon./Moore)
- Florence Cole-Talbert (1921-1922)
8. Dell’Acqua - Vilanelle
- Florence Cole-Talbert, William Leonard King (piano) (1919)
9. Arditi - Il Baccio
- Florence Cole-Talbert (1921-1922)
10. Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen

- Florence Cole-Talbert (1919)

11. White - Cradle Song
- Clarence Cameron White (violin), William L King (piano) (1919)
12. White - Lament

- Clarence Cameron White, William L King (1919)

13. Make More Room (arr. Dett)
- Hattie King Reavis (contralto) (1921-1922)
14. Gounod - There is a Green Hill

- Hattie King Reavis (contralto) (1921-1922)

15. Leoncavallo - Pagliacci: Vesti la giubba
- Roland Hayes (tenor) (4 May 1918)
16. Donizetti - L’elisir d’amore: Una furtiva lagrima
- Roland Hayes (25 May 1918)
17. Verdi - La forza del destino: Sollenne in quest’ ora
- Roland Hayes, G. Sumner Wormley (baritone) (26 May or 14 June 1918)
18. Katherine A. Glen - Twilight
- Roland Hayes (4 May 1918)
19. Bye and Bye
- Roland Hayes (15 June 1918)
20. Steal Away to Jesus
- Roland Hayes, Lawrence Brown (piano) (25 June 1918)
21. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

- Roland Hayes (21 Dec. 1917)

22. Verdi - Rigoletto: Caro nome
- Antoinette Garnes (soprano) (1921-1922)
23. Verdi - La Traviata: Ah! Fors’e lui (exc.)
- Antoinette Garnes (1921-1922)
24. Haydn - My Mother Bids Me Bind My Hair

- Antoinette Garnes (probably 1921)

25. Jean-Baptiste Fauré - Les Rameaux (in English as “The Palms”)
- Harry Burleigh (2 April 1944)