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Conversations with Black American Composers
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SUBJECTS
Music » Music (General)
Area Studies » African American Studies
Music » Reference
Music » Biographies
Reference » Music
REVIEWS
"Forty-one composers including the author offer personal perspectives on their art, mostly through first-person narratives and occasionally in Q-and-A format. Included here are such important orchestral figures as Hale Smith, Adolphus Hallstork, George Walker, Olly Wilson, David Baker, T.J. Anderson, H. Leslie Adams, Leslie Dunner, Bobby McFerrin, Patrice Rushen, Michael Abels, Anthony Davis, Jonathan Holland, Anthony Kelley, Jeffrey Mumford, Gary Powell Nash, and James Kimo Williams. Banfield provides a biographical synopsis for each composer, and his opening chapter is an historical overview of the African-American composer's experience."
— SYMPHONY
DESCRIPTION
A sequel to the award-winning The Black Composer Speaks (Scarecrow Press, 1978), this exploration of the creative world of African American composers traces the lives and careers of 40 talented individuals and, in their own words, provides perspectives on a world that has been slow to recognize their remarkable contributions to classical music. The discussion places the music of these composers within the greater context of Western art music, but analyzes it through the lenses of sociology, Western concepts of art and taste, and vernacular musical forms, including spirituals, blues, jazz, and contemporary popular music. Each chapter is devoted to an individual composer, who discusses his or her musical training, compositional techniques and style, and the composer's personal philosophy as reflected in his or her music. A selected list of compositions for each composer is included, as well as a photo and sample of the composer's "hand."
Banfield offers unprecedented insight into the history and influence of the African American composer with this documentary, which will appeal to everyone from the music scholar to the general reader.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
William C. Banfield is Professor of Africana Studies/Music/Society at Berklee School of Music. A musician, composer, conductor, and musical director, Banfield is the consulting editor for African American Cultural Studies for the Scarecrow Press, Inc.
