From Spirituals to Symphonies: African-American Women Composers and Their Music

(Hardback)

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Surveys the history and scope of concert music by African-American women, including instrumental, choral, and chamber works, as well as symphonies and operas. African-American women composers remain largely unknown despite their important musical contributions. Active in the United States since the mid-nineteenth century, several gained national and international recognition during their lifetimes, only to have their work neglected after their deaths. From Spirituals to Symphonies is a unique, extensively researched examination of the history and scope of musical composition by African-American women, focusing on the implications of race, gender, and class for their musical creativity, and demonstrating how this important, underappreciated category of American art was shaped by the unique individual personalities of its participants. Their particular times, communities, families, racial heritages, economic circumstances, education, and musical training were all brought to bear on their music, and author Helen Walker-Hill challenges the assumption that black women's only important musical contributions have been in folk, jazz, and pop. With unprecedented detail, she charts the lives and the output of a group of artists whose work has gone unnoticed for too many years.

Reviews

.,."a must-read. Whether you are interested in providing students with some background information on a famous composer, nurturing interactive reading or creating a music appreciation lesson, this book stands above many other children's books about music because of its readability, historically accurate information and distinctive illustrations."-American Music Teacher
.,."an exemplary reference work...thoroughly absorbing to read..."-Journal of the IAWM
.,."presents an accesible, thoughtful, and humanist study of African American women composers...Public and academic libraries would do well to acquire this study."-Library Journal
...a must-read. Whether you are interested in providing students with some background information on a famous composer, nurturing interactive reading or creating a music appreciation lesson, this book stands above many other children's books about music because of its readability, historically accurate information and distinctive illustrations.-American Music Teacher
...an exemplary reference work...thoroughly absorbing to read...-Journal of the IAWM
...presents an accesible, thoughtful, and humanist study of African American women composers...Public and academic libraries would do well to acquire this study.-Library Journal
Helen Walker Hill's new book is the result of half a lifetime's work...Evidence of the integrity and thoroughness of her effort leaps from virtually every page of this monumental, yet practical, volume. From Spirituals to Symphonies deserves a place in many collections, from public libraries and school shelves to research universities...that will make this a standard work for years to come.-Journal of the Music Library Association
In this unique historical music reference tool the author explores an area where little, if any, investigation has been done...This reference tool is priceless in that it serves a dual role. It provides recognition to a group of unsung heroines for their musical gifts, skills, and talent, and it serves as a valuable, user-friendly resource and reference in a highly specialized area of American music composition. The author should be commended for her diligence in bringing recognition to such and important group of artists.-Multicultural Review
Piano scholar Walker-Hill....[p]resents am accessible, thoughtful, and humanist study of African American women composers who, for the most part, have been ignored by historians....Besides Mildred Denby Green's groundbreaking Black Women Composers: A Genisis(1983), which focuses more on the music than on the women themselves and includes musical analysis and examples, there aren't other books on this subject. Public and academic libraries, then, would do well to acquire this study.-Library Journal
This excellent and beautifully produced publication will immediately interest those working in music history and women's studies. It is an exemplary study of significant composers born between 1904 and 1956....This essential book will be a significant addition to general collections and to academic collections at all levels.-Choice
This volume explores the history and scope of musical composition by African-American women, with a focus on the implications of race, gender, and class for their musical creativity....Of interest to the academic and the general reader.-Reference & Research Book News
Walker-Hill reveals an important side of American musical history which has been previously underpresented.-Religious Studies Review
"Piano scholar Walker-Hill....presents am accessible, thoughtful, and humanist study of African American women composers who, for the most part, have been ignored by historians....Besides Mildred Denby Green's groundbreaking Black Women Composers: A Genisis(1983), which focuses more on the music than on the women themselves and includes musical analysis and examples, there aren't other books on this subject. Public and academic libraries, then, would do well to acquire this study."-Library Journal
..."a must-read. Whether you are interested in providing students with some background information on a famous composer, nurturing interactive reading or creating a music appreciation lesson, this book stands above many other children's books about music because of its readability, historically accurate information and distinctive illustrations."-American Music Teacher
..."an exemplary reference work...thoroughly absorbing to read..."-Journal of the IAWM
..."presents an accesible, thoughtful, and humanist study of African American women composers...Public and academic libraries would do well to acquire this study."-Library Journal
"Helen Walker Hill's new book is the result of half a lifetime's work...Evidence of the integrity and thoroughness of her effort leaps from virtually every page of this monumental, yet practical, volume. From Spirituals to Symphonies deserves a place in many collections, from public libraries and school shelves to research universities...that will make this a standard work for years to come."-Journal of the Music Library Association
"Piano scholar Walker-Hill....[p]resents am accessible, thoughtful, and humanist study of African American women composers who, for the most part, have been ignored by historians....Besides Mildred Denby Green's groundbreaking Black Women Composers: A Genisis(1983), which focuses more on the music than on the women themselves and includes musical analysis and examples, there aren't other books on this subject. Public and academic libraries, then, would do well to acquire this study."-Library Journal
"This excellent and beautifully produced publication will immediately interest those working in music history and women's studies. It is an exemplary study of significant composers born between 1904 and 1956....This essential book will be a significant addition to general collections and to academic collections at all levels."-Choice
"This volume explores the history and scope of musical composition by African-American women, with a focus on the implications of race, gender, and class for their musical creativity....Of interest to the academic and the general reader."-Reference & Research Book News
"Walker-Hill reveals an important side of American musical history which has been previously underpresented."-Religious Studies Review
"In this unique historical music reference tool the author explores an area where little, if any, investigation has been done...This reference tool is priceless in that it serves a dual role. It provides recognition to a group of unsung heroines for their musical gifts, skills, and talent, and it serves as a valuable, user-friendly resource and reference in a highly specialized area of American music composition. The author should be commended for her diligence in bringing recognition to such and important group of artists."-Multicultural Review

Author Bio

HELEN WALKER-HILL has been studying, performing, and writing about the music of black women composers since 1987. She was the recipient of a resident fellowship from the Schomburg Center for Research on Black Culture in New York and a Rockefeller Fellowship from the Center for Black Music Research in Chicago. She is the author of Piano Music by Black Women Composers: A Catalogue of Solo and Ensemble Works (Greenwood, 1992).