Blacks in Classical Music: A Personal History

280 Pages·1977·10.615 MB·English

by  Raoul Abdul

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2010
http://www.archive.org/details/blacksinclassicaOOabdu

BLACKS IN CLASSICAL MUSIC
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Blacks
in classical music
A
Personal History
RAOUL ABDUL
By
DODD, MEAD COMPANY
&
NEW YORK
Acknowledgment is made to the Weintraub Music Company for permission
to reprint excerpts from the Short Symphony and the Suite for Piano and
Cello, both by Howard Swanson, copyright 1951 by the Weintraub Music
Company, NewYork, NewYork.
Excerpt from "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes reprinted by permis-
sion of Harold Ober Associates Incorporated. Copyright 1926 by Alfred A.
Knopf, Inc. Renewed.
Copyright © 1977 by Raoul Abdul
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
without permission in writing from the publisher
Printed in the United States of America
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10
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Abdul, Raoul.
Blacks in classical music.
Includes index.
1. Musicians, Black—Biography. I. Title.
ML385.A27 780'.92'2 [B] 77-11645
ISBN 0-396-07394-8
TO THE MEMORY OF ROLAND HAYES
AND TO
RICHARD MAYER HABER
Acknowledgments
I should like to express my gratitude to the editors of
the newspapers that have provided a forum for me to express
my ideas aboutmusic and musicians over a period of twenty-
seven years.
Charles Loeb, city editor of the Cleveland Call and Post,
took me under his personal supervision when I was an eight-
een-year-old kid fresh out of high school. He guided my
early steps through rewrites, obituaries, and music reviews.
Alfred Duckett, executive editor of the New York Age,
appointed me music critic on the recommendation of Lang-
stonHughes. He later arranged formy column, "The Cultural
Scene," to be syndicated nationally by the Associated Negro
Press.
James Hicks, executive editor of the New York Amsterdam
News, appointed me music critic. Hicks, Publisher John
Procope, andhis assistant, Lucia Robinson, have stoodbehind
my editorial views with fierce loyalty.