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Composition in Black and White: The Life of Philippa Schuyler
George Schuyler, a renowned and controversial black journalist of the Harlem Renaissance, and Josephine Cogdell, a blond, blue-eyed Texas heiress and granddaughter of slave owners, believed that intermarriage would "invigorate" the races, thereby producing extraordinary offspring. Their
daughter, Philippa Duke Schuyler, became the embodiment of this theory, and they hoped she would prove that interracial children represented the final solution to America's race problems.
Able to read and write at the age of two and a half, a pianist at four, and a composer by five, Philippa was often compared to Mozart. During the 1930s and 40s she graced the pages of Time and Look magazines, the New York Herald Tribune , and The New Yorker . Philippa grew up under the adoring and
inquisitive eyes of an entire nation and soon became the role model and inspiration for a generation of African-American children. But as an adult she mysteriously dropped out of sight, leaving America to wonder what had happened to the "little Harlem genius." Suffering the double sting of racism
and gender bias, Philippa had been rejected by the elite classical music milieu in the United States and forced to find an audience abroad, where she flourished as a world-class performer and composer. She traveled throughout South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia performing for kings, queens, and
presidents. By then Philippa had added a second career as an author and foreign correspondent reporting on events around the globe--from Albert Schweitzer's leper colony in Lamberéné to the turbulent Asian theater of the 1960s. She would give a command performance for Queen Elisabeth of Belgium one
day, and hide from the Viet Cong among the ancient graves of the Annam kings another.
But behind the scrim of adventure, glamour, and intrigue was an American outcast, a woman constantly searching for home and self. "I am a beauty--but I'm half colored...so I'm always destined to be an outsider," she wrote in her diary. Philippa tried to define herself through love affairs, but
found only disappointment and scandal. In a last attempt to reclaim an identity, she began to "pass" as Caucasian. Adopting an Iberian-American heritage, she reinvented herself as Felipa Monterro, an ultra-right conservative who wrote and lectured for the John Birch Society. Her experiment failed,
as had her parents' dream of smashing America's racial barriers. But at the age of thirty five, Philippa finally began to embark on a racial She was just beginning to find herself when on May 9, 1967, while on an unauthorized mission of mercy, her life was cut short in a helicopter crash
over the waters of war-torn Vietnam.
The first authorized biography of Philippa Schuyler, Composition in Black and White draws on previously unpublished letters and diaries to reveal an extraordinary and complex personality. Extensive research and personal interviews from around the world make this book not only the definitive
chronicle of Schuyler's restless and haunting life, but also a vivid history of the tumultuous times she lived through, from the Great Depression, through the Civil Rights movement, to the Vietnam war. Talalay has created a highly perceptive and provocative portrait of a fascinating woman.
daughter, Philippa Duke Schuyler, became the embodiment of this theory, and they hoped she would prove that interracial children represented the final solution to America's race problems.
Able to read and write at the age of two and a half, a pianist at four, and a composer by five, Philippa was often compared to Mozart. During the 1930s and 40s she graced the pages of Time and Look magazines, the New York Herald Tribune , and The New Yorker . Philippa grew up under the adoring and
inquisitive eyes of an entire nation and soon became the role model and inspiration for a generation of African-American children. But as an adult she mysteriously dropped out of sight, leaving America to wonder what had happened to the "little Harlem genius." Suffering the double sting of racism
and gender bias, Philippa had been rejected by the elite classical music milieu in the United States and forced to find an audience abroad, where she flourished as a world-class performer and composer. She traveled throughout South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia performing for kings, queens, and
presidents. By then Philippa had added a second career as an author and foreign correspondent reporting on events around the globe--from Albert Schweitzer's leper colony in Lamberéné to the turbulent Asian theater of the 1960s. She would give a command performance for Queen Elisabeth of Belgium one
day, and hide from the Viet Cong among the ancient graves of the Annam kings another.
But behind the scrim of adventure, glamour, and intrigue was an American outcast, a woman constantly searching for home and self. "I am a beauty--but I'm half colored...so I'm always destined to be an outsider," she wrote in her diary. Philippa tried to define herself through love affairs, but
found only disappointment and scandal. In a last attempt to reclaim an identity, she began to "pass" as Caucasian. Adopting an Iberian-American heritage, she reinvented herself as Felipa Monterro, an ultra-right conservative who wrote and lectured for the John Birch Society. Her experiment failed,
as had her parents' dream of smashing America's racial barriers. But at the age of thirty five, Philippa finally began to embark on a racial She was just beginning to find herself when on May 9, 1967, while on an unauthorized mission of mercy, her life was cut short in a helicopter crash
over the waters of war-torn Vietnam.
The first authorized biography of Philippa Schuyler, Composition in Black and White draws on previously unpublished letters and diaries to reveal an extraordinary and complex personality. Extensive research and personal interviews from around the world make this book not only the definitive
chronicle of Schuyler's restless and haunting life, but also a vivid history of the tumultuous times she lived through, from the Great Depression, through the Civil Rights movement, to the Vietnam war. Talalay has created a highly perceptive and provocative portrait of a fascinating woman.
360 pages, Hardcover
First published November 16, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 25, 2022
3.5 stars rounded up.
This is a thoroughly researched, well-written biography of Philippa Duke Schuyler, the daughter of the controversial author George S. Schuyler and his white wife, Josephine Cogdell, a true child prodigy on the piano and also an extremely bright girl then woman. Her father travelled a lot and her family was dysfunctional plus her mother--the epitome of the very worst sort of stage mother--followed behaviorist John Broadus Watson, a precursor of BF Skinner and a disciple of Pavlov. To say that his child rearing method is bad is putting it mildly. In addition, she was isolated from other children for some years, and then when she did go to school it was in a private Catholic school, etc and she only got to spend part of the day there.
Here is a recording of some of her playing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2jRy...
One the one hand, Philippa loved playing the piano and was a brilliant composer--similar to Mozart. Like Mozart, her audience shrank when she grew up (his piano performing career ended and he struggled--never got rich on his stuff, but had no racism to contend with.) On the other hand, until she grew up she was sheltered from American racism which was still overt. As an adult she could only get "negro audiences" which was fine, but she wanted to play larger groups. And ended up playing in other countries.
I won't give her entire biography since this book is worth reading, but she also became a correspondent and was on hand for some significant events in Africa, including being in the country then called the Belgian Congo when it changed from Belgian to local rule. She died in her mid-thirties (not a spoiler) during a helicopter crash in Vietnam.
This is a thoroughly researched, well-written biography of Philippa Duke Schuyler, the daughter of the controversial author George S. Schuyler and his white wife, Josephine Cogdell, a true child prodigy on the piano and also an extremely bright girl then woman. Her father travelled a lot and her family was dysfunctional plus her mother--the epitome of the very worst sort of stage mother--followed behaviorist John Broadus Watson, a precursor of BF Skinner and a disciple of Pavlov. To say that his child rearing method is bad is putting it mildly. In addition, she was isolated from other children for some years, and then when she did go to school it was in a private Catholic school, etc and she only got to spend part of the day there.
Here is a recording of some of her playing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2jRy...
One the one hand, Philippa loved playing the piano and was a brilliant composer--similar to Mozart. Like Mozart, her audience shrank when she grew up (his piano performing career ended and he struggled--never got rich on his stuff, but had no racism to contend with.) On the other hand, until she grew up she was sheltered from American racism which was still overt. As an adult she could only get "negro audiences" which was fine, but she wanted to play larger groups. And ended up playing in other countries.
I won't give her entire biography since this book is worth reading, but she also became a correspondent and was on hand for some significant events in Africa, including being in the country then called the Belgian Congo when it changed from Belgian to local rule. She died in her mid-thirties (not a spoiler) during a helicopter crash in Vietnam.
March 9, 2010
This book is excellent and not just because its about a cousin of mine. The author follows the life of Harlem's biracial prodigy --- Philippa Duke Schuyler -- from birth to her tragic end.
In between, we get to see her nearly every day from a precocious prodigy who could read music nearly from inception through her early fame to her extensive international tours. We also get to follow and admire Philippa's disillusionment with the heavily segregated "First World" that brought her away from music and into the journalism world of her father, black newspaper pioneer George Schuyler.
Admittedly, it is both a heart-wrenching and joyous journey, with highs and lows, ending with a big "what if?" because of the careless and completely unnecessary antics of an Army helicopter pilot in Vietnam.
But, Talay presents us with more than Philippa's story and gives us the story behind it, one that is essential in understanding Philippa's life much better.
We get to see George Schuyler's bio, though from his adult days as an army veteran (1912-18) who was a war hero and left the service as an officer, to this journalism work. He is presented as a very conservative man who closely followed H.L. Mencken (and clashed repeated with W.E.B.DuBois). We also see his extensive work for civil rights, traveling at the request of the NAACP into the Deep South on many occasions to investigate abuse and civil rights affronts, travels that always put him in danger and even had him staring down the barrel of police guns.
George Schuyler believed that for the world to be saved and, more importantly, for America to live up to its ideals, the races needed to come together. His union with Texas socialite Josephine Cogdell, who was white, produced Philippa though we already know that the experiment is still very much in progress.
If there is a fault with this book, it is in the limited background of Philippa's mother, Josephine. We get to see that she raised Philippa on a strict diet (of raw food, including meat). We see her being forceful with Philippa on her musical upbringing, so much so that Philippa often pined for George, who was frequently absent because of his journalism.
Of Josephine before Philippa's birth, we are shown her affair with George and that's the start of it. We know she was ostracized by her family back in Granbury, Texas (and apparently still is). However, we never learn her upbringing that would cause her to shun white society and take up with a black man in Harlem. It would have been nice to know just how she came up with the idea of a raw food diet or why she was so strict with Philippa.
Alas, the body of the book lies with Philippa, who helped break down so many racial barriers with her music, playing to white, black and mixed audiences the world over, being honored by white politicians, interviewed by members of the white and black press, and fawned over by people of all races and creeds.
It's easy to look at today's biracial superstars -- Derek Jeter, Mariah Carey, Jasmine Guy, Jennifer Beals, Shemar Moore, Lenny Kravitz -- and see that they owe a great debt to Philippa.
I highly recommend this book.
In between, we get to see her nearly every day from a precocious prodigy who could read music nearly from inception through her early fame to her extensive international tours. We also get to follow and admire Philippa's disillusionment with the heavily segregated "First World" that brought her away from music and into the journalism world of her father, black newspaper pioneer George Schuyler.
Admittedly, it is both a heart-wrenching and joyous journey, with highs and lows, ending with a big "what if?" because of the careless and completely unnecessary antics of an Army helicopter pilot in Vietnam.
But, Talay presents us with more than Philippa's story and gives us the story behind it, one that is essential in understanding Philippa's life much better.
We get to see George Schuyler's bio, though from his adult days as an army veteran (1912-18) who was a war hero and left the service as an officer, to this journalism work. He is presented as a very conservative man who closely followed H.L. Mencken (and clashed repeated with W.E.B.DuBois). We also see his extensive work for civil rights, traveling at the request of the NAACP into the Deep South on many occasions to investigate abuse and civil rights affronts, travels that always put him in danger and even had him staring down the barrel of police guns.
George Schuyler believed that for the world to be saved and, more importantly, for America to live up to its ideals, the races needed to come together. His union with Texas socialite Josephine Cogdell, who was white, produced Philippa though we already know that the experiment is still very much in progress.
If there is a fault with this book, it is in the limited background of Philippa's mother, Josephine. We get to see that she raised Philippa on a strict diet (of raw food, including meat). We see her being forceful with Philippa on her musical upbringing, so much so that Philippa often pined for George, who was frequently absent because of his journalism.
Of Josephine before Philippa's birth, we are shown her affair with George and that's the start of it. We know she was ostracized by her family back in Granbury, Texas (and apparently still is). However, we never learn her upbringing that would cause her to shun white society and take up with a black man in Harlem. It would have been nice to know just how she came up with the idea of a raw food diet or why she was so strict with Philippa.
Alas, the body of the book lies with Philippa, who helped break down so many racial barriers with her music, playing to white, black and mixed audiences the world over, being honored by white politicians, interviewed by members of the white and black press, and fawned over by people of all races and creeds.
It's easy to look at today's biracial superstars -- Derek Jeter, Mariah Carey, Jasmine Guy, Jennifer Beals, Shemar Moore, Lenny Kravitz -- and see that they owe a great debt to Philippa.
I highly recommend this book.
June 25, 2012
i first read about this book when i was in my high school library. it's release was a feature story in the new york times literary section. I had never heard of Phillipa Schuyler or of her father controversial black conservative journalist George Schuyler who basically committed the unpardonable sin of openly criticizing Dr. Martin Luther King in his columns, which ended up destroying his career. At the time i did want to read it but being a often distracted teenager i never got around to it. Fast forward to around 2000, i wondered about this book, if it was still in print...i searched the internet and found a copy on half.com... best few bucks i ever spent.
This book has a fascinating true story about this remarkable woman that is almost screen worthy. A biracial child who is a prodigy and becomes a national sensation with her piano talents that take her all over the world. However being that she was born in a time where her parents' marriage was very much frown upon and her existance considered an abomination, her life was not a path of roses. You cant completely fall in love with Philipa, her own schisms about her ethnic background and rather bad personal choices have you shaking your head. As well, frankly her mother had a screw or two loose. However, Her tragic death in Vietnam underscores the shadow of pain and darkness that she carried with her throughout her entire life. I often wonder what could have been if Philipa had lived? Her influence throughout the rest of the last century would have been interesting to say the least.
This book has a fascinating true story about this remarkable woman that is almost screen worthy. A biracial child who is a prodigy and becomes a national sensation with her piano talents that take her all over the world. However being that she was born in a time where her parents' marriage was very much frown upon and her existance considered an abomination, her life was not a path of roses. You cant completely fall in love with Philipa, her own schisms about her ethnic background and rather bad personal choices have you shaking your head. As well, frankly her mother had a screw or two loose. However, Her tragic death in Vietnam underscores the shadow of pain and darkness that she carried with her throughout her entire life. I often wonder what could have been if Philipa had lived? Her influence throughout the rest of the last century would have been interesting to say the least.
January 28, 2011
A heartbreaking glimpse into the brief, fascinating life of a former child prodigy-cum-journalist who grappled with her racial identity until her untimely death. Reading of her formative years will make you want to toss this book across the room. In her mother's quest to groom her into a "Model Mulatto," she deprives Philippa of a normal childhood and thrusts her into the spotlight as a concert pianist, a career in which she never experienced mainstream success. Equally unlucky in love, she delighted in men who either saw her as a shiny novelty or a helpless child.
Talalay's recount of Schuyler's life is painfully vivid, and her extensive research produces a rather captivating composite, though there were points when the minutiae became a little tedious. Still, a good read.
Talalay's recount of Schuyler's life is painfully vivid, and her extensive research produces a rather captivating composite, though there were points when the minutiae became a little tedious. Still, a good read.
August 28, 2016
I had never heard of Philippa Schuyler before reading this book. She was a woman before her times. Hopefully, her life will be made in to a movie.
November 10, 2025
It is impossible not to be deeply moved by Philippa's tragic story.
The author did an excellent job, writing a very balanced biography of a superbly gifted person who was internally conflicted.
This kind of writing, nonjudgmental and impartial, is hardly possible today. The book is a testimony of American society's intellectual abilities in the 90s. They were much higher than they are today.
Why are Philppa Schuyler's pianistic achievements unknown? In his "Great Pianists", written in the 60' and reissued in 1987, Harold Schonberg didn't mention her name even once. Practically no classical musician today knows her name, while other Black Americans are celebrated. Is that because of her (or her father's) conservative political views, or her religiosity, or her internal conflict about her own identity?
Why are her compositions unknown?
There is work to be done.
The author did an excellent job, writing a very balanced biography of a superbly gifted person who was internally conflicted.
This kind of writing, nonjudgmental and impartial, is hardly possible today. The book is a testimony of American society's intellectual abilities in the 90s. They were much higher than they are today.
Why are Philppa Schuyler's pianistic achievements unknown? In his "Great Pianists", written in the 60' and reissued in 1987, Harold Schonberg didn't mention her name even once. Practically no classical musician today knows her name, while other Black Americans are celebrated. Is that because of her (or her father's) conservative political views, or her religiosity, or her internal conflict about her own identity?
Why are her compositions unknown?
There is work to be done.
October 4, 2021
I considered myself a Schuylerite based upon (her father) George's work. But this book tells a much broader and intriguing story about Black experience in America and abroad in the 1930s through 1967.
In thumbnail (or wikipedia) this story seems fantastical. In Ms Talalay's well researched book, a forgotten personality comes to life. And what a life!
I also suggest "Back to Black" the satirical novel by her father, "Who Killed the Congo" Philippa's insightful analysis of the formation of the post Belgium Congo.
In thumbnail (or wikipedia) this story seems fantastical. In Ms Talalay's well researched book, a forgotten personality comes to life. And what a life!
I also suggest "Back to Black" the satirical novel by her father, "Who Killed the Congo" Philippa's insightful analysis of the formation of the post Belgium Congo.
December 26, 2017
I came across this title somewhat by chance, and how lucky I did. The subject is fascinating, and the writing, sublime. Talalay delves into the fascinating life of Phillippa Schuyler, a child music prodigy, born of an African-American father and white mother in Harlem, in the 1940s. The story moves apace, reading more like a gripping novel than a standard biography. I'm coming to the end and already mourning the loss. I would welcome another read by Talalay, on just about any subject.
September 20, 2018
Philippa Schuyler's brief life was fascinating and tragic. The book isn't an amazing feat of literature, but I was glad to more intimately understand this mysterious and lesser known American genius.
April 18, 2011
While I enjoyed learning about Philippa Schuyler's fascinating (if tragic) life, I can say I only liked but did not love the book. I think that it's decently written but that the prose doesn't "sing" very often, so at times it requires workmanlike discipline to get through less inviting passages. Overall, then, the experience of it is one of enjoyment but not passionate appreciation. For example, I'm glad that I've read it, but wouldn't think about doing so again as I have with other biographies by which I was fasinated and moved.
This being said, it's clear that the author, Kathryn Talalay, did good and extensive research. The wealth of detail and information is impressive. What's missing is true insight into Philippa's psyche - the "who was she really and why?" - especially as the story progresses and she gets older. Perhaps the subject is simply inaccessible, but my intution is that she was just not fully reached in this particular effort. While this is unfortunate, the depth and breadth of the (external/material) detail shared here is impressive enough to make this a worthwhile read. Just don't expect to be transported by (the style of) the writing as much as moved by the sheer magnitude of the story conveyed.
What you will come away with, though, is how incredibly talented Philippa was, how tortured and tragic a person she was and how unique (if ultimately unfilfilling) a life she created for herself. You will also come to see America's unfortunate experience of race in all of its sad complexity because, unfortunately, Philippa experiences so much of the downside of being a mulatto child unable to change the world into which she was thrust by her hopeful but naive parents. No, it turns out, being brilliant isn't enough to "get beyond" race, at least not during the mid-20th century when Philippa was alive. One is left to wonder, then, had her parents not "gifted" her with this mission, would her life have been far more fulfilling and the story have been one of even more triumph and far less tragedy?
It's this prism into race and its sad permutations, in addition to the wealth of information and experience conveyed, that makes this a worthwhile read. Accordingly, I recommend it to fans of biography, 20th century American and world history, African American interest, international relations/politics, etc. Or anyone looking for a story that leaves you wondering wistfully what might have been....
This being said, it's clear that the author, Kathryn Talalay, did good and extensive research. The wealth of detail and information is impressive. What's missing is true insight into Philippa's psyche - the "who was she really and why?" - especially as the story progresses and she gets older. Perhaps the subject is simply inaccessible, but my intution is that she was just not fully reached in this particular effort. While this is unfortunate, the depth and breadth of the (external/material) detail shared here is impressive enough to make this a worthwhile read. Just don't expect to be transported by (the style of) the writing as much as moved by the sheer magnitude of the story conveyed.
What you will come away with, though, is how incredibly talented Philippa was, how tortured and tragic a person she was and how unique (if ultimately unfilfilling) a life she created for herself. You will also come to see America's unfortunate experience of race in all of its sad complexity because, unfortunately, Philippa experiences so much of the downside of being a mulatto child unable to change the world into which she was thrust by her hopeful but naive parents. No, it turns out, being brilliant isn't enough to "get beyond" race, at least not during the mid-20th century when Philippa was alive. One is left to wonder, then, had her parents not "gifted" her with this mission, would her life have been far more fulfilling and the story have been one of even more triumph and far less tragedy?
It's this prism into race and its sad permutations, in addition to the wealth of information and experience conveyed, that makes this a worthwhile read. Accordingly, I recommend it to fans of biography, 20th century American and world history, African American interest, international relations/politics, etc. Or anyone looking for a story that leaves you wondering wistfully what might have been....
September 5, 2012
Interesting person,talented. Well known but not anymore. I was reading an obit of an American classical musician respected in other countries but pretty unknown here and the obit mentionned he was exploring the music and life of the woman who is the subject of this biography.
Pedestrian writing.
Pedestrian writing.
August 7, 2007
Interesting biography of Philippa Schulyer, unfortunately known as a tragic figure. Her unusual childhood as a paino prodigy is portrayed as full of tension due to her demanding mother and the frowned-upon mixed-race household.
October 28, 2013
Very moving and just fills my interest in the racial struggles during the early US years
April 5, 2017
A look at the interesting and tragic short life of a biracial child prodigy. Philippa Schuyler was born in the 1930s to a conservative journalist father who was African American and a socialite mother who was white. Raised in an unconventional way, Philippa soon became a prodigy studying classical piano. Pushed to go too far by her overbearing mother, however, and not really having a strong cultural identity make Schuyler's life an often unhappy one. As she grows into adulthood, the pressures of her family, the racism she faces in America and around the world, cause her some loneliness and grief, and her life is cut tragically short as she works as a journalist during the Vietnam War.
Really a fascinating read! There should be a movie of Philippa's life.
Really a fascinating read! There should be a movie of Philippa's life.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews