| Black Orchestras Part 10 |
| Sunday, 24 June 2007 | |
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My limited research exposed three states and three organizations in which Black composers, organizers, and musicians created a musical identity, which I believe laid the foundation for ensuing popular music and for the music we now refer to as “Black music.” (See this HOT TOPIC for the definition.) Initially, I wanted to inculcate that Blacks were invested in a musical style that is not currently attributed to them. But times are changing and we are now being associated with classical music in wonderful ways. More than just our poor tokens Scott Joplin and William Grant Still, organizations like African Chorus, Inc., AfriClassical.com and Myrtle Hart Society with their mighty team of advisors, scholars and researchers are bringing awareness to Black classical musicians and composers in ways not seen since this group of musicians and composers flourished in the 19th century. One can speculate that these exceptional musicians and organization’s leaders would have been apart of W.E.B. Du Bois’s ‘Talented Tenth,’ called upon to save the race, and to “guide the Mass away from the contamination and death of the Worst, in their own and other races” (1971:385). As elitist as that sounds, we can say that in a way, we are the few making big noise in order to highlight and project to the masses the best and the brightest of the race. We want equality! We want fairness! We want recognition! And we want to prove that we deserve these things. Why must we always overprove ourselves?? These past few Hot Topic! discussion articles demonstrate that economically-privileged White Americans were aware of the benefits of racial and class segregation, and that both races capitalized on Black musicians burgeoning social power through music. Because of racial segregation, Black musicians were able to form groups in which they fostered their own needs, built their own ideals, and gained economic and political power. The result was that the nascent Black social class produced segregated entities within which White opportunists integrated. Today, we can call them partnerships. Example: Baltimore Symphony’s “partnership” with Soulful Symphony. Comprised of Blacks and Latinos (with an occasional White musician thrown in as previously mentioned and historically justified), Soulful sells out every single concert and has for its three year tenure. It is the Baltimore Symphony’s cash cow for real. And how many musicians of color are in the BSO? I know that this is a tangent, but not for nothing, Baltimore city had a population of 64.9% in 2005 and 29.3% in Maryland in general. That’s a LOT of Black folks. And how many did you say were in the BSO again? And more than that, are you aware of how many folks actually GO to the BSO? I don’t have the numbers, but I can tell you not many. Not many. But Soulful’s brown-skinned concerts SELL OUT. Do you think BSO will let that go? My initial point is proven. However, on the topic of Black musicians, I could not simply locate the musicians’ place in society, you know, just state “well they were there and isn’t that amazing?” I hate when people do that. It’s not amazing. What they DID with that is more amazing than the fact that they existing alone. That’s why I also had to discuss the reception of the musicians within the larger social structure in order to evaluate the impact that the musicians had on society. Doing this made it imperative that I detail the social processes of how segregated organizations integrate, co-mingle, if you will, with larger White society. Furthermore, these articles illustrate not only the little known fact that all (mostly)-Black orchestras existed, but also the extent of their visibility in the media at the time. The accessibility of seeing and hearing the minority orchestras encouraged other Black Americans to attain the same esteem and status held by the famed musicians. Instant visible role models who inspired and motivated others to attain success (or at least created a goal for the youngsters). With this historical resource, perhaps people will have a different conception of the current racially-segregated orchestras. Arts organizations may find that their solution rests not in diverse and creative recruitment, but in enhanced promotion of existing all-Black and Latino orchestras as visible role models. As has been demonstrated, promoting economic and political power through many mediums attracts those seeking to elevate their social status in this White world. Black Americans experience what Du Bois termed “double-consciousness,” (as previously stated, “double-consciousness” was W.E.B. Du Bois’s term for the pain of enduring racial oppression in terms of the affliction of being Black). 19th century musicians of color may have been compelled to prove their existence to a dominant race in many ways, one being entertainment and learned skill in the form of concert and popular music. Black concert musicians will never be viewed as those who resist or revolt in the textbook sense of radicalism (‘the political orientation of those who favor revolutionary change in government and society’) probably because of the subtly of concert music and Blacks slow but determined domination. They oftentimes needed to either downplay or project their individualism in accordance with the relegated identifying stereotypes in a way that would afford them more social privileges. It seems inevitable that Blacks would not associate their loathed image with the socially respected European image. By appearing to assimilate to White society, they were publicly rewarded; Black musicians were granted entrance into the White social events, compensated for their performances, and further rewarded with positive public acclaim and “befriending.” That to me looks like the musicians’ goals were for social change. White elites were not looking for social change as much as cheap labor. White society produced the façade of acceptance, a cosmetic stance, although some like Dvorák were advocates for social change. White society found a way to enjoy less expensive musicians at their social events without forsaking the grandness and quality of the music itself or altogether forgoing their events. It’s not like they could just pop in a CD at that time. Musicologist Eileen Southern concedes that “we cannot hope to know the full story about Black bands and orchestras in the antebellum period, but judging from the numerous references in contemporaneous literature to such activities, the few names that have come down to us represent only the tip of the iceberg” (1997:111). The sentiment is inspiring, is it not?
Stay tuned for next week when we have a guest author, Charles Smith. His article is entitled "A LOOK INTO THE THEMATIC ELEMENTS OF THE FIRST MOVEMENT OF GEORGE WALKER SONATA NO. 1 FOR SOLO PIANO (1953)"
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