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Harry Burleigh (1866-1949), baritone, was the first African-American to become a successful Classical composer. He attended Jeannette Thurber's National Conservatory of Music, where he became the protegé of Czech composer Antonín Dvořák. He, in turn, would spend hours on end singing traditional Spirituals to Dvořák. Burleigh's most durable compositions are his arrangements of these spirituals, which compare favorably with the Classical compositions of European composers. They have been popularized by such artists as Roland Hayes, Paul Robeson and Marian Anderson.
Of the Spirituals, Burleigh wrote:
- . . . In Negro spirituals my race has pure gold, and they should be taken as the Negro's contribution to artistic possessions. In them we show a spiritual security as old as the ages. . . . These songs always denote a personal relationship. It is 'my Saviour,' 'my sorrow,' 'my kingdom.' The personal note is ever present. America's only original and distinctive style of music is destined to be appreciated more and more.
Well-known arrangements of spirituals
Some of Burleigh's best-loved arrangements include:
- Oh, Wasn't Dat a Wide Ribber
- Scandalize my Name
- I Stood on de Ribber ob Jerdon
- Behold that Star
- Heav'n, Heav'n
- Hard Trials
- Oh, Didn't it Rain
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