| U.S. Black Classical Music |
| Tuesday, 13 March 2007 | |
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By definition, classical music is essentially “A loose expression for European and American music of the more serious kind, as opposed to popular or folk music.” (American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition) For our purposes, we’ll just call it a musical style credited to peoples of European descent and thought of as high art or, at the very least, associated with high culture. Popular, folk or traditional music is associated with the native or common people, often (sadly) referred to as "low brow." Majority ruled when the Black, White, red, yellow, etc. “founders,” thieves and slaves of America began producing music. Europeans brought their knowledge of instruments and music to the American bouillabaisse of culture as did many Africans. Many Whites and Blacks, migrated and displaced, sang and performed on their native instruments. Blacks, who were conscious of their heritage, created and beat upon percussive instruments and plucked/bowed stringed instruments. All races seemed nostalgic, attempting to reassociate themselves with their respective homelands. All seemed eager to connect in their new land with those who shared their memories, their experiences. The American amalgamation of cultures produced a new music, which was performed by many Blacks and some whites at balls, dances, and other social events. The players performed standard repertoire such as Brahms quartets, as well as newly composed tunes based on familiar themes. The band leader, a solo violinist perhaps, was oftentimes asked to “keep the party going.” His duty then was to continue the same tune, but to give the people something extra so as not to bore them (or the performers). With some imagination (and a concept of theory), the instrumentalist created notes that danced around and between, and complimented the underlying harmony of the piece. We can now consider this to be “improvisation,” a somewhat spontaneous composing technique used in jazz performance. Academics liken improvisation to old world embellishments or ornamentation where the musician deviates from the established (written on paper) notation. Although some of these extemporaneous musical ideas can be prescribed, most are not thereby giving the music an illusion (ear-lusion?) of being created on the spot. Performers have been “improvising,” adding their own creative flairs, since others have been asking them to keep the party going. From African circles to Beethoven, if it ain’t written, it’s considered improvised when performed. But that doesn’t mean that Beethoven was a jazz musician. So when Nina Simone claimed that “Jazz is a white term used to define Black people. My music is Black Classical Music,” was she altogether wrong? Not quite. Although somewhat debatable, American jazz can be considered the production of an American culture clash. Further, jazz can be considered the voice or vehicle through which racially and economically disadvantaged populations found/find solace—group (musicians) interactions strengthened personal and community bonds, while curiosity piqued and forged white acceptance. As time progressed, the catchy nature of jazz, with its syncopated rhythms and infectious attitude, coaxed crowds away from stuffy, stifled, elitest, limiting classical music. Why? Well, for one, unlike classical music, jazz was aural—its performances were fleeting events only retained in the memory after the last note was heard. There was no way to contain jazz, to reproduce it. Classical music, on the other hand, had been heard for centuries—it adhered to codes and rules which were set forth on paper for anyone to reproduce. Deviations from the black symbols on white paper spelled disaster since their familiarity was already in the minds of many. It was the recreation of classical music that brought comfort. Conversely, it was the spontaneous creation of jazz that brought excitement. Mind you, all this time, peoples of African descent were still composing “standard” classical repertoire. However, the style, the instrumentation, and the feel of the music was fading from the mainstream, declining in its American popularity and being replaced with a new sound, a new vibe. So perhaps it’s just semantics. Classical music as it was known way back then is still immensely popular and highly revered in Europe today. In the 1960s, when Nina Simone made her declaration, jazz was immensely popular and, due to the fascination of whites, becoming more of an accepted art form, subject of academic study. Therefore, European classical music and American jazz were somewhat comparable in that they were/are popular musics divided by style and race, but with an air of prestige and understood by only the cool kids. (I’m really trying to see where Nina was coming from…) Europeans being “White” and the majority of jazz musicians being “Black” along with the state of each’s purported origination, perhaps gave Ms. Simone the mind to make such a claim? For argument's sake (and quite technically), the music composed by Blacks using classical instruments in the classical style is Black classical music. Or isn’t it? Stay tuned for next week’s topic: “Riddle Me This: Just what DO you call music by composers of African descent?" |
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