Author Archives: Leigha Daniels

Another Aretha Franklin?

Posted on by
Reply

Mavis Staples is an American Gospel and soul singer who rose to fame by being a part of her family’s band, the Staples Singers. She is also quite the civil rights activist, she even had the opportunity to sing for Martin Luther King Jr. Mavis began singing with her family at age 10 all the way throughout her education. In the Chicago Daily Defender, Staples is regarded as “another voice that ranks with Aretha’s.” 1

Since debuting her first solo album in 1969 ‘Mavis Staples,’ she has since then recorded 14 albums under the genre: rhythm and blues along with gospel. It can be argued that ‘You Are Not Alone’ is one of Staples’ most popular songs. “‘You Are Not Alone’ is a track to someone who has lost a loved one. It’s a song to someone who has lost a relationship or a friend. It’s a song to someone experiencing hardship – to someone deep in depression or dismay. It’s a reminder that you are not alone.” 2

Mavis Staples and the Staples Singers served an important role during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s. The music they produced during this time were filled with powerful messages about equality. In other words, Mavis Staples’ music consistently reflects her standpoint on social justice matters, we should regard her as true activist of her time. It should be noted that her messages of equality, inequality, hope, and freedom extends way beyond on the musical world.

Dvorak’s life in America

Posted on by
Reply

We know Dvorak is known for coming to America and writing the New World Symphony, but what was his life truly like and why did he come to America? When thinking of Dvorak and American music, it was always my understanding that Dvorak came to America because he was curious about the culture and wanted to compose music that incorporated a sense of American culture. Dvorak came to America because he was offered a more than decent paying job with some pretty irresistible attributes. What was so enticing for Dvorak to pack up and leave his hometown Nelahozeves in the Czech Republic and endure a sickening 9 day transatlantic voyage on the SS Saale was Jeannette Thurber who “offered Dvořák an annual salary of $15,000, about 25 times what he was currently earning as a professor at the Prague Conservatoire.” 1

2

Dvořák with his wife, children, and friends in New York.

More along the lines of Dvorak’s life in America, we can get an idea from a multitude of letters he had written. In these letters he talks about concerts, premieres, the National Conservatory, and his family. 

“The first and chief thing is that, thanks be to God, we are all well and liking it here very much. And why shouldn’t we when it is so lovely and free here and one can live so much more peacefully and that is what I need… The orchestra here, which I heard in Brooklyn, is excellent, 100 musicians, mostly German as is also the conductor.” 3

In this letter from Dvorak to The Parker House, we get a clear idea of how he and his family is settling in as well as what the caliber of orchestral musicians are like in America.

Robbie Robertson Americana or Canadian?

Posted on by
Reply

Although it is important to learn the history of ethnography with Frances Densmore and early recordings of Native American music, I find listening to music created by Native Americans specifically shared with the public to have greater impact. In the Akwesasne Notes Magazine, there is a section called Music Reviews by Jill O’Brian. This section of the magazine talks about the Red Road Ensemble and Robbie Robertson. When simply searching up Robbie Robertson we find that he was a Canadian musician and lead guitarist for Bob Dylan. What we don’t see is his Native American background and the group he created called the “Red Road Ensemble,” who created the album, Music for the Native Americans which was used in a television documentary.

1

Robbie Robertson was a musician, songwriter, and guitarist of Mohawk and Jewish descent. He played a significant role in promoting and preserving Native Canadian/American culture through his music. Robertson incorporated Native American themes and musical elements into his compositions, which helped bring Native American culture to a broader audience. 

Let’s take a look into the album Contact from the Underworld of Redboy, which was released in 1998.

“One particular song on the record, Sacrifice, highlighted the plight of Native Americanawk activist Leonard Peltier, who was serving two life sentences in prison for a crime he did not commit. The song mixes traditional singing and drums with Robertson’s own voice singing the chorus and a recording from a phone call with Peltier in prison, where the Lakota man tells his story.”2

It is important that we as students educate ourselves on Native people’s music in order to help preserve and protect traditions, which have been passed down through generations. 3

 

Sacred turned Spiritual

Posted on by
Reply

Henry Thacker (H.T) Burleigh, was a black American, classical composer who was known for his compositions and arrangements of spirituals. H.T. Burleigh was also an accomplished professional singer. “Harry Thacker Burleigh played a significant role in the development of American art song, having composed over two hundred works in the genre. He was the first African-American composer acclaimed for his concert songs as well as for his adaptations of African-American spirituals.”1

“Burleigh was surrounded by music from a young age,” his mother was his first music teacher and throughout his childhood he was a dedicated church performer. As he grew older, sacred music was no longer his niche. Burleigh was quite the accomplished singer, he attended the National Conservatory in New York, eventually on scholarship. One important event/events that should be noted is that while Burleigh was at the National Conservatory, Antonín Dvořák became the director of the program. Throughout Burleigh’s time there, the two became quite close. Burleigh would often sing spirituals to Dvořák which he used as inspiration for some of his compositions and even used “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” as a theme in the first movement of his symphony “From the New World.”2

3
Burleigh wrote a few works based on plantation melodies he learned throughout his childhood. Among these few, “Deep River,” is one of the most famous and recognized spiritual songs. “It was soon normal for recitals to end with a group of spirituals. Musicians such as Roland Hayes, Marian Anderson and Paul Robeson made these songs a part of their repertoires.” Although we musicians know the voice type to be baritone, when Burleigh was publishing his music, most of the works were for “low voice.” 

H.T. Burleigh’s contributions to music, most importantly African American spirituals, some instrumental, but mainly vocal music played a role in breaking down the racial barriers that existed and brought African American music to the forefront

1“H. T. Burleigh (1866-1949).” n.d. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200035730

The truth behind Minstrel shows

Posted on by
Reply

Before we dive into Minstrel shows and what they exactly are, we should take a look at the history of the word “Minstrel” and its multiple meanings. I think it is important that we educate ourselves and others and learn the true history behind these shows and their meaning. In Hebrew, a minstrel is a player of a stringed instrument. There are references in the Book of Samuel of David as a minstrel playing for Saul.1

A little bit later, we find that a minstrel is a medieval poet and musician who sang or recited while accompanying himself on a stringed instrument, either as a member of a noble household or as an itinerant troubadour. As you can see, there are many different definitions of minstrel and how it truly hasn’t changed very much over many centuries. 2

Then we reach the early 1830’s and we find that there are performances called Minstrel shows. “The first minstrel shows were performed in 1830s New York by white performers with blackened faces (most used burnt cork or shoe polish) and tattered clothing who imitated and mimicked enslaved Africans on Southern plantations. These performances characterized blacks as lazy, ignorant, superstitious, hypersexual, and prone to thievery and cowardice.” 3 It is important to note that when the word “Minstrel” originated, that person or persons were not being used to humiliate an entire race. We also need to be educated that the word “Minstrel” had not become popular with the definition of blackface until the 1800’s.

Continuing with blackface in the 1800’s, this small clip from a newspaper article in 1856 is quite the shocker. The parts that stood out to me were how “cheap” the entries to the shows were and that they essentially happened daily. The specific group that was performing that night were called the Campbell Minstrels and a few songs from their set lists include: “Darkies on the levee,” “Old Dan Tucker,” “Gold versus postage stamps,” and plantation scenes.

 

4

There’s “whiteness” in Bluegrass?

Posted on by
Reply

It is interesting that when a majority of us think of Bluegrass music, we immediately think of it being white music, from the south, and “hillbilly.” After listening to and reading the transcript from Rhiannon Giddens’ keynote address, I found that she also had the idea that there is “whiteness” in Bluegrass (specifically the banjo), although she doesn’t use the term “whiteness,” the picture that was portrayed to her was that Bluegrass originated from white people in and around the south.

An important quote from Rhiannon Giddens

“This was not the picture I was painted as a child! I grew up thinking the banjo was invented in the mountains, that string band music and square dances were a strictly white preserve and history – that while black folk were singing spirituals and playing the blues, white folk were do-si-do-ing and fiddling up a storm – and never the twain did meet – which led me to feeling like an alien in what I find out is my own cultural tradition.”1

We should take note of the origins of Bluegrass. Where did it originate? Who was playing where? These are questions that most of us think we know the answer to but are in fact actually quite wrong. Bluegrass has origins that date back to as early as 1780 in Greenville, South Carolina. A majority of this music had a widespread diaspora throughout Southern Appalachia, the most notable state would be Kentucky, where the Blue Grass Boys band originated.These answers show that Bluegrass was coined by white people and that it has white origins. From listening to Giddens’ keynote address, we find these answers to be untrue.2

Another quote from Giddens

“But the black to white transmission of the banjo wasn’t confined to the blackface performance. In countless areas of the south, usually the poorer ones not organized around plantation life, working-class whites and blacks lived near each other; and, while they may have not have been marrying each other, they were quietly creating a new, common music.”1

Bluegrass music can’t be white. Although the media would say otherwise, Bluegrass music has origins from all throughout Southern Appalachia, whether it be from white people or not. White men used what they heard from African Americans and put their label on it, claiming it as their own. In other words, it’s okay when white people sing and play African American “blues” or “bluegrass” because it is entertaining but when African Americans are the ones performing, it is considered as “lazy,” used as “complaining” songs, and simply not good.3

Here’s an interesting vinyl cover I found: 4

Is American music really American?

Posted on by
Reply

After playing in the St. Olaf Orchestra’s concert last spring which essentially had all works from Antonin Dvorak; including Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” and “American Suite.” It became clear to me that what we consider “American” music, isn’t actually American. We learned from Joseph Horowitz that Dvorak would take bits in pieces from melodies he heard while traveling around America. It should be noted that most “American” music contains melodies, tunes, and isms from many other different cultures. 

In Dvorak’s Prophecy, Scholar Joseph Horowitz sheds light on the fact that Dvorak was in search of “homegrown” music. According to Dvorak “homegrown meant music created by Black and Indigenous people.” The term “homegrown” can definitely be picked apart to pieces when attempting to determine if Indigenous, Black, or American music is considered to be homegrown or not.

When Dvorak composed these pieces, he had the idea that everything he heard and picked up was essentially American. Although we can acknowledge that most of the tunes he incorporated in his music were from Indigenous people. 

“Dvorak was stirred by the sad fate of the Indian and the pathos of the slave. His empathy found expression in his Symphony From the New World- … It begins with a sorrow song and ends with an Indian dirge. Its most famous tune, later reconstituted as the synthetic spiritual “Goin’ Home,” memorializes the tragic servitude of Black Americans.”

On a similar but a little different note, I think that our education system has failed us in the past. Growing up and hearing music on the radio, on TV, in stores, we’ve always thought that what we were hearing was American music. In actuality, most of these pop songs we hear have stemmed from African American people. We have been surprisingly ignorant when it comes to the origins of the music we listen to and I think that ought to change. We can complete this circle by coming back to Dvorak. Dvorak composed the “American Suite,” in an attempt to capture American music. Before I had any prior knowledge of this piece, I simply thought: Dvorak was in America at the time therefore, the music was American. Oh, how I was wrong, and I imagine I’m not the only one who had thought this way. I hope we can learn and acknowledge our ignorances and move forward with open minds.

Dvorak in Spillville, Iowa where he spent a summer in search of “American” music.

Citations

Music: Dr. dvorak’s new symphony. 1893. The Critic: a Weekly Review of Literature and the Arts (1886-1898). Dec 23, https://www.proquest.com/magazines/music/docview/124901982/se-2 (accessed September 20, 2023).

Horowitz, Joseph. Dvořák’s prophecy and the vexed fate of Black Classical Music. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2022.

Toll, Martha Anne. “Review | He Saw a ‘noble’ Future for Black and Indigenous Composers. He Was Wrong.” The Washington Post, December 10, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/he-saw-a-noble-future-for-black-and-indigenous-composers-he-was-wrong/2021/12/08/9705c2f4-2ba1-11ec-985d-3150f7e106b2_story.html.