For http://www.thebritishblacklist.com 17th Aug 2013: http://www.thebritishblacklist.com/black-british-classical-music-legacy-tafafdzwa-shakara-mbandaka/
While many cultural historians consider Jazz as “the Black Classical” music, the many contributions of Afrikan-Caribbean composers & musicians to the genre popularly known as western Classical, have often been overlooked.
The reasons for this vary. Classical music largely developed in an upper middle class European context that traditionally disenfranchised the decedents of Afrikans all over the world. The means to excel in such a genre were often denied. As a result, Black people themselves associated such music with this demographic and apparently, largely steered clear of it, while developing other genius forms of musical expression, often with little more than a rich cultural legacy to draw upon.
A closer historical look however, reveals that Mozart, Bach, & Beethoven (who many believe to be of mixed heritage), would never have existed had it not been for The Blacker Moors who civilized Europe during the dark ages. It is not surprising therefore, that like Rock, Black musicians have continued to make meaningful contributions to Classical music, whether we are were recognised for it or not.
Britain has a very long tradition of Classical musicians of Afrikan descent; Ignatius Sancho (1729-1980) is among the most notable. Believed to have been born on a slave ship travelling from Afrika to the West Indies, he arrived in the UK as a very young child. While being subjugated to servitude by three British sisters, the young genius was able to take advantage of the paternalistic instincts of a near by duke and taught himself how to read and write.
Though he grew to be far more acclaimed for his literary works, Sancho was also a notable Composer and Musician. He adapted many Shakspeare poems to song and wrote music for a variety on instruments including the Violin and the Flute. His efforts led others to acknowledge him as an “Extraordinary Negro”. As a result, certain British parliamentarians saw him as some what of a mascot for the British Abolition Movement, because he represented a “civilized savage”.
Though he himself was known to be a rather patriotic defender of the British Crown, he did lend his voice to the conditions of Afrikans in Britain and those who were subjected to the so-called “Slave Trade”. In one of his famous letters he wrote:
“I say it is with reluctance, that I must observe your country’s conduct has been uniformly wicked in the East – West-Indies – and even on the coast of Guinea.”
Another Black musician who became known as an Abolition supporter was Le Chevalier de Saint Georges (1745-1799). Born in Guadeloupe to an enslaved Afrikan mother and her slave master, circumstances led him to be raised in France where he was taught and became accomplished in the arts of Music & fencing.
Saint-Georges mastered the Violin & the harp and became one of Frances most notable composers, Musicians & even Conductors. His violin technique was said to be reminiscent of his immense skill with the sword. This technique led him to push the boundaries of the instrument and develop a new style music; the “Symphonie Concertant”, in which the lead solo Violin creates a unique “sparring” relationship with the rest of the orchestra.
Saint-George appears to have been successful in everything he put his mind to, including athletics, fencing music and even military service. This and an apparent mutual affinity with women, led him to become one of the few Afrikans in France to achieve social standing. As an accomplished composer of everything from String Quartets to 76 piece Orchestra’s, Saint George applied for Frances highest musical honour – director of the Royal Opera of Louis XVI. He was however turned down on account of his Afrikaness and continued to compose, direct and play right up until his passing.
Black Britain’s Best Classical Composer is an accolade popularly given to Samuel Coleridge Taylor. Born of an English mother and a Sierra Leonian father in 1875. He rose to prominence in 1898 with his most famous composition “Hiawathas Wedding Feast”. Two years prior to this however, he met noted Afrikan-American poet, Paul Laurence Dumbar. Dunbar and The Frisk Brothers (A choir famous for introducing the world to Negro Spirituals) opened his mind to Black activism and the exploration of Afrikan culture.
His exploration was aided by various tours through out Europe and America. Taylor had the opportunity of meeting Booker T Washington and was one of 37 attendees at the first every Pan-Afrikan Conference organised by Henry Sylvester Williams in London, 1900. Ever since, he became an ardent Pan-Afrikanist, and his Black Liberation/Anti-Colonialist sensibilities often reflected in his music.
He began fusing “Black Spiritual” music with Classical composition, giving birth to his “24 Negro Melodies” and “Africa Suite” among others. Despite the challenges that came with being Afrikan and a Pan Afrikanist in that time, he continued to write and perform until his untimely death in 1912 at the young age of 37.
These, plus many others are the roots of a strong legacy of Black Classical musicians that have had a major impact on our shores and today the legacy continues. While screenwriter Candace Allen created a stir a few years ago by charging the British Classical Music world with continued racism, there are those who continue to overcome in spite of adversity.
In April 2012, vocalist Noah Stewart became the first Afrikan-Caribbean male to top the Classical charts in the UK. Double Bassist Chi-Chi Nwanoku is currently holding it down in performance, composition and research, while Vincent Osborne runs “The Black British Classical Foundation”, inspiring a new generation of practitioners in the genre.
article for the british blacklist by @ShakaRaBKS