Henry Thacker Burleigh

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Henry Thacker Burleigh, 1936

Henry "Harry" Thacker Burleigh (born December 2, 1866 in Erie / Pennsylvania , † December 12, 1949 in Stamford , Connecticut ) was an American classical singer (baritone), arranger, composer and editor and is considered the "father of Spirituals ”. He was the first black composer who, through the nature of his arrangements, made the music of blacks accessible to classically trained musicians.

Life

Burleigh attended grammar high school in his hometown and sang in churches and synagogues in the Erie area. He took singing lessons from Italo Campanini and Rafael Joseffy and was accepted on the second attempt at the National Conservatory of Music , directed by Antonín Dvořák . He studied singing with Christian Fritsch and music theory with Rubin Goldmark , John White and Max Spicker . He had no lessons from Dvořák, but from 1893 he worked as a copyist and assistant for him. He also played the double bass and timpani in the orchestra of the conservatory, led by Dvořák and Frank Van der Stucken .

In 1894 he became solo singer at St. George's Protestant Episcopal Church in New York - he held this position for 52 years. From 1900 to 1925 he was also a soloist at Temple Emanu El . He went on concert tours through America and Europe and performed a. a. before King Edward VII . He also gave singing lessons at New York's Will Marion Cook's School of Music , where Enrico Caruso , Roland Hayes , Marian Anderson and Paul Robeson took lessons from him.

From 1911 Burleigh was a lecturer in the New York branch of the Ricordi music publisher . Here his arrangements of American songs and spirituals - including the famous Deep River - appeared, which were sung by singers such as Lucrezia Bori , John McCormack and Ernestine Schumann-Heink . In addition to spirituals and songs, Burleigh also composed instrumental works mainly for domestic use.

Work editions

  • Negro minstrel melodies , New York: G. Schirmer, 1900
  • Plantation melodies, old and new , New York: G. Schirmer, 1901
  • 6 Plantation melodies , 1901
  • Plantation songs , New York: William Maxwell, 1905
  • AfroAmerican folk song , New York 1914
  • 2 Negro spirituals , New York: G. Schirmer, 1914
  • 3 Negro spirituals , fNew York: G. Schirmer, 1916, 3 volumes
  • Album of Negro spirituals , 1917, 1969
  • Negro folk songs , New York: G. Ricordi, 1921–1924. 4 volumes
  • Old songs hymnal: words and melodie from the state of Georgia , New Yor: Century Co., 1929
  • Negro folk songs , London: Schott, 1930
  • Negro spirituals , New York: AMS Press, 1959, 1975
  • The spirituals of Harry T. Burleigh , New York: Belwin-Mills, 1984

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Burleigh, Henry Thacker
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Burleigh, Harry Thacker (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American classical singer (baritone), arranger and composer
DATE OF BIRTH December 2, 1866
PLACE OF BIRTH Erie , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH December 12, 1949
Place of death Stamford , Connecticut