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Frequently Asked Questions

 

Usually a short composition for solo voice with piano accompaniment, based on a poetic text and composed in a fairly simple style designed to enhance the siginificance of the text. The lied (art song)- differing from the folk (or popular) song, which is usually unaccompanied, anonymously composed, and transmitted by oral tradition- is the personal creation of an individual composer aiming at artistic perfection. In its deceptive simplicity, the lied conceals the artfulness with which its creator fused the three elements of text, melody, and accompaniment into a unified whole.

Profusion of lyrical poetry in Europe at the end of the eigteenth century lead to the flourishing of the lied. It requires greater freedom of expression and a need to reflect ones intimate sentiments in compositions that blend words and music. Another important contributing factor to lied's development was the growth of the middle class in which the women, instead of working, spent their time in pursuit of cultural activites, i.e., learning to play the piano (at that time found increasingly in private residences), singing, and buying the increased quantities of music diestributed by the new commercial entrepreneurs, the music publishers.

In its most current forms, art song ranges from short and simple to rhapsodic. A song cycle can last an entire evening, or be as brief as five minutes. Freedom of expression is a key element to the definition of art song. And collaboration. Not only must the singer present the melody of any given composer, but the responsibility for setting the mood of the poem, commenting on the action, elaborating the vocalist's line through the anticipation or echo of a phrase, providing an interlude between stanzas, or concluding the song with an instrumental postlude rests with the accompaniment. Through the years, the significance of the piano accompaniment presented a problem to composers and critics concerned with the relative importance of words and music in the lied. Earlier writers indicated the interpretation of the text as the duty of the singer. By the late eigteenth century, however, the piano accompaniments began to share in the support of the vocal melody, sometimes through increased harmonic activities, other times through enrichment of the texture or embellishment of the melodic line.

Source: Brody, Elaine and Fowkes, Robert. The German Lied and its Poetry. New York:New York University Press, 1971.

ONLINE INFORMATION:
Art Song
The Analysis of Song
Texts of Lieder, Art Song, and Other Vocal Works
Thomas Hampson: I Hear America Singing

The study of art songs by American composers has, within the last twenty years gained substantial popularity. Efforts are consciously made by many voice teachers in this country to include works by Copland, Barber, Duke, Carpenter, Beach, Griffes, MacDowell, Argento, Bowles, Hoiby, Hundley, and Ives, among other distinguished American art song composers, in the offering for their students' consumption. American performers like Leontyne Price, Marilyn Horne, Dawn Upshaw, Thomas Hampson, and others program this genre of song in their song recitals, which are popular with their audiences. As a direct result of this interest shown by voice teachers and professionals, the song compositions of many American composers have become standard repertoire. Music scores are readily available. Biographical material concerning the composers can be found in almost every public library of music in America. Many of the works have been analyzed and are thoroughly understood as a result, and thematic catalogs of many American composers can be accessed for research. Song cycles such as Barber's Hermit Songs, Argento's Elizabethan Songs, Songs About Spring, Copland's Emily Dickinson Songs, American Folk Songs, Hoiby's Songs for Leontyne, and various individual songs of Ned Rorem, Stephen Foster, and others are found in almost every voice teacher's studio in America. These songs are taught to students for various reasons, not the least of which is broadening their exposure to American culture and thereby balancing their study and performance repertoire which, by necessity, is replete with works by foreign composers (i.e., non-American). Such practice is to be lauded, as it not only gives American students of voice a better understanding of the contributions made by Americans to Western art culture, but it also ensures the future availability of these works for progeny via publication and analysis.

There is one particular problem with this current system of study. The works of African-American composers are neglected by all but a few American voice teachers and artists. Commonly, singers are acquainted with select spiritual arrangements by Harry T. Burleigh or Hall Johnson, and a few songs taken from the Anthology of Art Songs by Black American Composers. This Anthology is the most consistently available publication of its kind to be found in public and university libraries. It is an invaluable resource for beginning exposure to African-American art song.

It is not uncommon for an American singer's student or professional recital to include a group of American art songs, usually at the close of the program. If African-American composers are acknowledged at all in such a recital it is usually via spiritual arrangements. This manner of programming gives a very distinct impression to audience members, purchasers of recordings, and particularly to young singers beginning to form their ideas about art culture: the African-American contribution to this culture is limited to a style of song some 300 years old. The omission of African-American composers from the standard repertoire taught to American voice students only serves to fortify this impression. The incorrectness of this impression is a foregone conclusion. Much research has been done to point out the contributions of African-American composers.

This article focuses on the lack of exposure provided singers regarding the wealth of art songs composed by African-Americans. It discusses reasons for studying this repertoire and suggests a minimum repertoire with which every teacher of voice in America should be acquainted.

Lack of Exposure

Historically there has been little attention paid to African-American composers of art song in bibliographic references and periodical articles. Repertoire books like Music for Voice and The Singer's Repertoire refer, generally, to spirituals with reference to Black composers. A notable exception to this is Victoria Etnier Villamil's 1993 A Singer's Guide to the American Art Song, 1870 - 1980. It references eight African-American composers, giving in-depth information on five of them.

Additionally, song collections popularly available and used by teachers of singing have paid little attention to the contributions of Black composers to art song. A survey of twenty-seven song collections reveals only two African-American composers, William Grant Still and George Walker (b. 1922). Walker is represented by three songs in American Art Songs: A Collection of 20th Century Songs by American Composers from Charles Ives to Elliot Carter for Medium Voice and Piano; compiled by Barry O'Neal. Still's song "The Breath of a Rose" appears in A New Anthology of American Songs: 25 Songs by Native Composers, and three songs, including the aforementioned are published in Romantic American Art Songs: 50 Songs by 14 Composers. Excluded in this sampling are Patterson's Anthology of Art Songs by Black American Composers and Rogie Clark's Negro Art Songs, both of which are collections dedicated solely to this subject matter.

Although there are a number of festivals in this country devoted to art song performance, the works of African-Americans are rarely, if ever, considered for performance. One is given the impression that either this repertoire is unavailable or unworthy of performance. This is an incorrect conclusion. There are many very finely crafted compositions routinely ignored in this manner.

It has been suggested that few articles on the subject of Black composers are submitted for publication to important periodicals such as The Journal of Singing. Young scholars, particularly African-Americans, should take it upon themselves to, at the very least, submit these articles.

The Importance of Studying African-American Art Song

African-Americans have composed in veritably all styles of writing, extending from neo-impressionism, to neo-romanticism, through atonalism, to what can be best termed eclecticism. A new generation of composers embraces standard and electronic media for expressing their craft.

One is made aware of the contributions of African-Americans to the overall genre of Western Art Music, which is the common tapestry shared by all westerners, no matter their color or ethnicity. Further, this is but a patch in the great quilt of civilization's cultural enterprise. To ignore this body of work is to loosen the threads of this great blanket, to weaken it.

The study and performance of African-American art song exposes one to perspectives not typically reflected in other composers. Poetry and poets generally neglected by non-Black composers are set with regularity by African-Americans. For example, poets of the Harlem Renaissance, an important period in the development of poetry in America, receive much attention. These include Arna Bontemps, J. Weldon Johnson, Claude McKay, Countee Cullen, and, of course, Langston Hughes. Other important poets not included in the Harlem Renaissance, such as Paul Laurence Dunbar, Mari Evans, and Donald Jeffry Hayes, have been set by these composers. Naturally, their compositions are not limited to these poets, but include alternative settings of poems by such standard, non-Black poets as Emily Dickinson, Lord Byron, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Walt Whitman. Exposure to the song writing of African-Americans, then, offers an exciting opportunity for expanded literary knowledge and alternative settings of standard poets.

Increased performance and study of these songs will produce an increase in interest. In turn, this will lead to scores being more readily available, with the most worthy of these becoming standard repertoire. This is repertoire for all singers, Black and White alike. Voice teachers and performers should labor to procure and incorporate this music. Much is to be gained from developing an appreciation of the art songs of African-Americans. However, without a concentrated effort, this repertoire is not likely to find its way into the musical life of recital stages and university communities. If we should lose this valuable resource due to neglect on the parts of singers and teachers of singing, the fabric of art culture in America will be weakened and Western civilization will be all the poorer for it.
Song Cycles to Know

There is a vastness of songs by African-American composers such that it requires a reference book like that of Kagen or Coffin in order to list them properly and to serve them justly. A bare minimum of repertoire can be best suggested by pointing out some notable song cycles. With this approach, the reader will be exposed to a broad sampling of the works available. Individual songs by the composers herein cited are of value, as are the works of composers not included in this essay.

HARRY T. BURLEIGH: PASSIONALE
The Glory of the Day was in Her Face
Her Eyes, Twin Pool
Your Lips Are Wine
Her Eyes, So Deep
Arguably, the first prominent Black composer in America is Harry T. Burleigh. He has a distinguished catalog of songs which were quite popular with singers in the earlier part of this century (especially Christine Miller, George Hamlin, John McCormack, and Roland Hayes). In the offing are exquisite individual songs like "Little Mother of Mine," "Jean," and "The Grey Wolf." His songwriting is balanced and tasteful, and his songs are models of sincerity and sensitivity to text. Burleigh's important song cycles include Saracen Songs and Five Songs of Laurence Hope, both of which are now available in print through Classic Vocal Reprints/E. C. Schirmer. Of particular importance are his settings of J. Rosamond Johnson's poetry in the cycle Passionale. This work is the only song cycle with which this author is acquainted that is dedicated exclusively to the poetry of this important African-American figure.

Passionale, for high voice and piano, consists of four songs. The cycle was published by G. Ricordi in 1917. The score can be borrowed from the New York City Public Library. The poetry is written from a masculine perspective, in adoration of feminine attributes, but the songs could conceivably be performed by a soprano or lyric mezzo-soprano. They are characterized by lyrical melodies in the voice undergirded by mostly homophonic piano accompaniment. The tessitura of the songs is middle to high. The difficulty level for both singer and pianist is medium. The dynamic range required varies with each song. Some soft singing in a high tessitura is requested. It is harmonically lush, with chromaticism layered on a firmly diatonic structure. This is a fine period cycle.

HOWARD SWANSON: SONGS FOR PATRICIA
Darling Those Are Birds
No Leaf May Fall
One Day
Goodnight
Many African-American composers have been lauded for the high quality of their song writing. Particularly praised are the songs of Howard Swanson. William Flanagan, reviewing three songs of Swanson, said, "They are authentic and in the best tradition of the song-writing art--sensitive, intimate, and evocative." (Reisser 1989, 19) Virgil Thompson said, "Howard Swanson is a composer whose work singers (and pianists, too) should look into. It is refined, sophisticated of line and harmony in a way not at all common among American music writers. His songs have an acute elaboration of thought and an intensity for feeling that recall Faur (Quillian 1951)" (Reisser, 1989, 19). Swanson's friendship with poet Langston Hughes and his subsequent setting of Hughes poetry gives insight not only to the music of the African-American community, but also gives an intimate view to the psyche of the poet. Swanson consulted the poet with regularity while setting his poetry. His compositions are considered by many to be the definitive interpretations of the poet's work. His individual song settings of the poems "Joy," "In Time of Silver Rain," "Night Song," "Pierrot," and "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" reflect his intimate acquaintance with the inner workings of Hughes' poetry.

Acquaintance with the song cycle Songs for Patricia is encouraged. The poetry is by Norman Rosten (Swanson did not set a cycle using poems by Hughes). It was published in 1952 by Weintraub Music Company. The cycle is for high voice and piano. The text is that of a parent to a child. Singers attempting this cycle should be capable of high, soft singing. The voice should be lyrical. Dissonant melodic passages in the voice receive little help from an economical, often chordal accompaniment. For these reasons the difficulty level for both singer and pianist is high. Both must be steady, confident musicians.

WILLIAM GRANT STILL: SONGS OF SEPARATION
Idolatry
 Pome
Parted
If You Should Go
A Black Pierrot
Popularly referred to as "the Dean of African-American Composers", William Grant Still has been almost universally recognized for his contributions to American music regardless of his race. He is known to have been enamored of the voice, having written some nine operas and several remarkable songs. Jazz influences are to be found in the richness of his harmonic vocabulary. Individual songs like "Citadel," "Grief," and "Winter's Approach" bear out this finding. Little known is his song cycle From the Hearts of Women, from poetry of his wife and oft-times collaborator, Verna Arvey. Still's career as a composer extended from the late 1920s through the early 1970s. Perhaps his most influential compositions stem from his involvement in the Black Nationalist era (c. 1920 - 1940). During this period, he wrote his Afro-American Symphony, which is probably his best known work. From this same period comes the song cycle Songs of Separation.

This setting of five songs by various Black poets (Bontemps, Philippe Thoby Marcelin, Dunbar, Cullen, and Hughes; all are African-American with the exception of Marcelin, who is Haitian) was published in 1949 by Leeds Music Corporation. It is now available through William Grant Still Music, Flagstaff, Arizona. It can be performed by medium high voices; a male voice may be preferable.

Singing these songs requires a fecundity of emotion. They convey a story "in which a protagonist moves through irony, bitterness, and despair to a restorative search for a new love" (Friedberg 1981, 105). The singer and pianist must work in perfect ensemble in order to project the different atmospheres required of the poetry and music. At times, the writing for the voice "shows some operatic influence, as befits its dramatic orientation, but nevertheless retains the compression and intimacy of the art song" (Friedberg 1981, 105). The construction of the cycle is palindromic. Songs I and V are written in a quasi-arioso style, with melodic vocal lines which range from expansive contours to recitative. Songs II and IV are similar in their chordal treatment of the accompaniment. Both evoke a hushed atmosphere. Song III is unlike any of the others. The poetry is a limerick by Dunbar and the musical treatment is that of a joke. The cycle is fulfilling for all parties concerned. The singer and pianist are presented with beautiful, challenging music, and the audience is treated to some of William Grant Still's best writing in the art song genre.

MARGARET BONDS: THREE DREAM PORTRAITS
Minstrel Man
Dream Variation
I, Too
As a composer, pianist, and teacher, Margaret Bonds was fortunate to receive wide acclaim in her own lifetime. Her talents as a composer were lavished on such varied genres as choral works, orchestral works, piano pieces, popular songs, and art songs. Having been personally acquainted with the most significant Black artists of her day, she learned a great deal about the voice through association with such great singers as Abbie Mitchell, Hortense Love, Adele Addison, Betty Allen, Eugene Brice, Lawrence Winters, Carol Brice, and Leontyne Price. These ties coupled with her extraordinary talents as a concert pianist lend themselves well to the craftsmanship found in her various songs and spiritual arrangements.

The most popular of her songs happen to be the ones that are most accessible in publication. Three Dream Portraits, a song cycle of poetry by Langston Hughes, is popularly available in the Anthology of Art Songs by Black American Composers. It was originally published by G. Ricordi in 1959. The difficulty level for singer and pianist is medium to medium-difficult, owing to sweeping vocal lines, dramatic climaxes, complicated rhythms in the accompaniment, and the necessity for well executed ensemble. The cycle appears in the Patterson Anthology in the low key. A high key version does exist, but it is harder (though not impossible) to locate.

Like Howard Swanson, Margaret Bonds had a close friendship with Langston Hughes. The poet's collection The Dream Keeper provided Bonds with the three poems of this cycle. They reflect on different themes related to being Black in America. "The work is a series of mood paintings with many characteristics of the jazz style." (Green 1983, 55) "Minstrel Man," the first song of the set, emotes poignant irony. The poetry speaks of the conflict between a Black entertainer's gay outer facade and his inner turmoil. Bonds's music reflects this conflict best by deft usage of modal mixture. The song climaxes dramatically. "Minstrel Man" can be easily excerpted from the cycle and performed separately. The second song is "Dream Variation". In this song, Bonds crafts an atmospheric, dreamlike vision of hopefulness. The piano and voice move together, though not homophonically, "whirling" and "dancing" as they bring to life Hughes' vision of a better world where the color black is applied to all things beautiful. Song three, "I, Too" is fashioned as a military march. The poetry speaks of ultimate triumph in the face of adversity. Tension builds from the first measures, the voice proclaiming, "I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother!" The mounting dissonance is effortlessly resolved with the statement, "Besides, they'll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed." Both the pianist and the singer must recognize the nuance of motivic material presented by Bonds in this song if it is to have the impact intended for ending this moving work (e.g., the martial quality of the opening bars in the piano, the disjunct melodic material of the phrase, "nobody'll dare say to me, 'Eat in the kitchen', then, the menacing quality of the piano part as the voice states, "Tomorrow, I'll sit at the table when company comes," and the laughing staccati of the piano in the postlude).

HALE SMITH: BEYOND THE RIM OF DAY
March Moon
Troubled Woman
To a Little Lover-Lass, Dead
The first all Hale Smith program was presented on 29 May 1955 at the Karamu Procenium Theatre. This auspicious event saw the premiere of two of Smith's most significant works for voice, his song cycles The Valley Wind (then entitled Four Songs) and Beyond the Rim of Day. He has gone on to create many other works in various genres. Significant works for voice include Two Love Songs of John Donne for soprano and nine instruments, Two Songs for Soprano and Violin, Three Patterson Lyrics, and several moving spiritual arrangements which reflect a strong jazz influence.

Beyond the Rim of Day was composed in 1950, but was published in 1970 by Marks Music. The poetry is that of Langston Hughes. It is for high voice and piano and consists of three songs. A fourth song, on poetry by Anne Spencer, was entitled ?Innocence. It was deleted for the present publication. The set lasts approximately eight minutes, in which time one woman's development from youth to defeat and, ultimately, death are presented. The piano score is intensely reflective of the text and calls for various soft effects with trills, tremolo, sostenuto pedaling, and cluster chords. Many specific markings are given for the pianist." (Carman 1977, 22) A lyric voice is called for here, being required to sing some disjunct melodies, soft and loud high tones, and enunciation of the delicate and emotive texts. Both performers of this cycle must be mature, advanced musicians.

LESLIE ADAMS: FIVE MILLAY SONGS
Wild Swans
Branch By Branch
For You There Is No Song
The Return From Town
Gone Again Is Summer The Lovely
Leslie Adams (b. 1932) is the youngest of the composers featured in this essay. He has written many lovely songs for voice and piano in the forty years he has been composing professionally. Equally at ease writing for orchestra, chamber ensemble, organ, piano, and chorus, his treatment of art song is particularly praiseworthy. Important cycles include African-American Songs, with six texts by African-American poets, and The Wider View. Adams has set various poems by Cleveland native Joette McDonald. The importance of this collaboration is yet to be determined, but it does represent the most significant settings of her poetry. His stirringly expressive song, "For You There Is No Song" appears in Patterson's anthology. Subsequent to this publication, the song has become popular with young singers. It is listed individually in Villamil's Singer's Guide to the American Art Song. This song is part of a cycle of five poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay, entitled Millay Songs. It is particularly recommended.

Millay Songs was written in 1977 and is available from American Composers Alliance. There are two versions, one for high voice, the other for medium voice and piano. There songs are perhaps the finest of Adams' considerable catalog. The beautiful melodies of the voice are firmly supported by a piano accompaniment that is keenly reflective of the text. Millay's texts are, for the most part, melancholic. They express sentiments of the tedium of daily life, lost love, and lost opportunities. The penultimate song, "The Return From Town," is shocking in its contrast to the previous three songs. It, too, speaks of opportunities lost, but does so almost as a matter of jest (the text says, succinctly, "I saw someone fair. I ignored him and went into my own house. There I already have a handsome husband.")

Picturesque is the best word one may use to describe the piano treatment of these songs. Much like the songs of Schumann, the piano intercedes to complete fragments of thoughts where words fail. A fine pianist himself, Adams is very specific with markings. The voice part is written with sensitivity for the expressive powers of a lyric instrument. Decidedly, this composer knows how to maximize effects possible from singers. On high notes, time is given for the blossoming of tone. Lines are written for the voice in such a way as to encourage vowel-to-vowel singing, the framework necessary for true legato. There are some complexities here that will require specific attention if a unified ensemble is to prevail. The level of difficulty for this work is medium to medium high. It is a gratifying piece to perform.

In Conclusion

The study of art songs by African-American composers has been of interest to various scholars since the specific genre was first established at the turn of the century. Burleigh mused on possibilities for exploring, in common European forms, his heritage of spirituals. Dett and White provided fodder for the discussion. For almost a century now, composers have been developing this genre, some intentionally, others not so. (Some African-American composers would rather not have their race associated with their compositions. They prefer to be known as good composers rather than good African-American composers. Their output, nonetheless, is part of the definition of the aforementioned genre. Until all Americans can be equally identified as Americans, without the need for hyphenated designations, a subset of African-American composers will always be in place and the compositions of each of these composers will be part of the subset.) Within the last thirty years individual efforts have been put forth by noted scholars to make the neglected songs of outstanding African-American composers more accessible to interested parties. In particular, scholars at universities have written dissertations on the subject and bibliographic references now make it somewhat easier to locate information and actual repertoire. However, all of these efforts have not been enough to yet inspire a collective appreciation and respect of these songs among all American singers and teachers of singing. Although it is not assumed that this essay will, in and off itself, be the miracle cure to this malady, it is hoped that some interest in the art songs of African-Americans will be sparked by reading it. The songs discussed herein are but a fraction of those awaiting the seeker of new and exciting repertoire. They must be performed frequently, if they are to have life.
Bibliography

Carman, Judith Elaine. "The Song Cycle in the United States: 1900-1970, Part III." The National Association of Teachers of Singing Bulletin 33 (February 1977).

Cuney-Hare, Maud. Negro Musicians and Their Music. New York: Da Capo Press, 1974.

Friedburg, Ruth C. American Art Song and Poetry: Volume I America Comes of Age. New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1981.

Green, Mildred Denby. Black Women Composers: A Genesis. Massachusetts: Twayne Publishers, 1983.

Patterson, Willis C. Anthology of Art Songs by Black American Composers. New York: E.B. Marks Music, 1977.

Reisser, Mildred. "Howard Swanson: Distinguished Composer." Black Perspectives in Music 17, I - II (1986).

Scanlon, Roger. "Spotlight on American Composers: Hale Smith." The National Association of Teachers of Singing Bulletin 33 (May 1977).

Southern, Eileen. The Music of Black Americans. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1983.

Tischler, Alice. Fifteen Black American Composers: A Bibliography of Their Works. Michigan: Information Coordinators, Incorporated, 1981.

Villamil, Victoria Etnier. A Singer's Guide to the American Art Song, 1870 - 1980. New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1993.
Appendix: Some African-American Composers of Art Song - Composer/Publisher Information

    Harry T. Burleigh, 1866 - 1949 CVR
     
    Clarence Cameron White, 1880 - 1960 CF
     
    R. Nathaniel Dett, 1882 - 1943 GS
     
    Carl Diton, 1886 - 1962 EBM
     
    Camille Nickerson, 1887 - 1982 LOC
     
    Florence B. Price, 1888 - 1953 LOC/EBM/HP
     
    Hall Johnson, 1888 - 1970 CF
     
    Cecil Cohen, 1894 - 1967 EBM
     
    William Grant Still, 1895 - 1978 WGS/EBM
     
    Edward Boatner, 1898 - 1981 ECS
     
    Frederick Douglass Hall, 1898 - 1982 LOC
     
    William Dawson, 1899 - 1990 LOC
     
    John W. Work, Jr., 1901 - 1967 EBM/ECS
     
    Undine Smith Moore, 1904 - 1989 LOC/EBM/HP
     
    Howard Swanson, 1907 - 1978 EBM/CF
     
    Evelyn Pittman, b. 1910 LOC
     
    Mark Fax, 1911 - 1974 EBM/LOC
     
    Margaret Bonds, 1913 - 1972 EBM/LOC
     
    John Duncan, 1913 - 1975 LOC
     
    Edgar Rogie Clark, 1913 - 1978 EBM
     
    Noah Ryder, 1914 - 1964 LOC
     
    Zenobia Powell Perry, b. 1914 LOC
     
    Thomas Kerr, 1915 - 1988 EBM/LOC
     
    Ulysess Kay, 1917 - 1995 GS
     
    George Walker, b. 1922 SM
     
    Julia Perry, 1924 - 1979 HP/LOC
     
    Hale Smith, b. 1925 EBM
     
    Robert Owens, b. 1925 EBM
     
    T.J. Anderson, b. 1928 ACA
     
    Betty Jackson King, 1928 - 1994 HP/LOC
     
    Lena McLin, b. 1929 NK
     
    Noel DaCosta, b. 1930 EBM
     
    Frederick Tillis, b. 1930 LOC
     
    David Baker, b. 1931 EBM/LOC
     
    Leslie Adams, b. 1932 ACA/EBM
     
    Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, b. 1932 EBM
     
    Roger Dickerson LOC
     
    Olly Wilson, b. 1937 EBM
     
    Robert A. Harris, b. 1938 LOC
     
    Wendell Logan, b. 1940 EBM
     
    Charles Brown, b. 1940 EBM
     
    Dorothy Rudd Moore b. 1941 ACA/EBM
     
    Adolphus C. Hailstork, b. 1941 EBM
     
    Wallace Cheatham, b. 1945 LOC
     
    Charles Lloyd, Jr., b. 1948 EBM
     
    William Banfield, b. 1961 LOC
     
    Nkeiru Okoye, b. 1972


Key To Publisher Information

ACA American Composers Alliance

CF Carl Fischer, Inc.

CVR Classical Vocal Reprint

EBM E. B. Marks, Inc (Hal Leonard, Inc)

ECS E. C. Schirmer

GS G. Schirmer

HP Hildegard Press

LOC Library of Congress

NK Neil Kjos Music Company

SM Southern Music Company

WGS William Grant Still Music
Other resources helpful in locating repertoire:

The Center for Black Music Research
Columbia College
Chicago, IL

The Schomberg Collection
New York Public Library
New York, NY

The Azelia Hackley Collection
Detroit Public Library
Detroit, MI

Center for Afro-American Studies
The University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI

Indiana University
Bloomington, Indiana 

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