Black Composers in Art Song

Vocal anthologies have been a staple in voice studios for many years, providing teachers and students with a wide array of repertoire at a reasonable cost. Teachers eagerly stocked their studios with these multi-composer volumes as well as those of the more popular single composers such as Schubert, Schumann, Debussy, Fauré, etc. There is a plethora of anthologies devoted to the Arie antiche, German lieder, French mélodie, and American art song. Missing from this landscape was an anthology with multiple composers devoted to the art songs of Black composers. Acknowledging that there have always been some anthologies by Black composers devoted to single composers of art songs, song cycles, and spirituals; there have been relatively few collections that offer singers a variety of songs by different Black composers.

This new collection Black Composers in Art Song is designed with the studio teacher in mind. Its appealing repertoire meets technical, linguistic, and interpretive goals to make it easier for teachers to expand the musical canon they teach to include works by Black composers.

The composers selected represent the United States, England and France and both male (9) and female (5) composers. The fourteen selected songs span the 18th to 21st centuries and utilize three of the singing languages (English, German, French and French creole).

The book includes a thorough introduction along with composer bios. Songs include: The Butterfly upon the Sky (Jeremiah Evans) - Dans Un Bois Solitaire (Joseph Bologne) - Dream Variations (Richard Thompson) - Fais Do Do (Camille Nickerson) - Grief (William Grant Still) - Herz, Mein Herz, Sei Nicht Beklommen (Marques Garrett) - Hold Fast to Dreams (Forence Price) - Homesick Blues (Leslie Adams) - I Want to Die While You Love Me (Undine Smith Moore) - In the Springtime (Betty Jackson King) - Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal (Harry T. Burleigh) - Since You Went Away (J. Rosamond Johnson) - Thou Art the Soul of a Summer's Day (Adolphus Hailstork) - What Lips My Lips Have Kissed (Margaret Bonds) - The Willow Song (Samuel Coleridge-Taylor).