It's Our Music Too: The Black Experience in Classical Music

by Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Groundbreaking Book Explores the Black Impact on Classical Music Earl Ofari Hutchinson meticulously details in his It’s Our Music Too The Black Experience in Classical Music the black impact on classical music. Hutchinson notes that there are numerous books which have dissected and re-dissected every possible aspect of classical music—the composers, performers, their compositions, the musical structure, the history, and even the gossip and minutiae about the composers and performers. Yet, there are almost no books that focus on the significant part that black composers and performers played in influencing and in turn being influenced by classical music “The list of Africans, African-Americans and Afro-European composers, conductors, instrumental performers, and singers,” says Hutchinson, “is and always has been, rich, varied, and deep. Sadly, the recognition of this has almost always come in relation to the work of a major European or white American composer.” Hutchinson’s aim in It’s Our Music Too The Black Experience in Classical Music is not to update a book on blacks and classical music, or list the many notable individual breakthroughs of top flight black classical music performers and composers through the years. Instead he tells the story of how blacks have actually influenced the development, history and structure of classical music in its major varied forms; opera, chamber pieces, symphonies, and concertos. It’s a story that’s filled with tragedy and triumph, heart break and heroism. Hutchinson gives an exciting and entertaining glimpse into Mozart’s “borrowing” a musical idea from the black violin virtuoso Chevalier Saint-Georges in the eighteenth century, Dvorak’s basing a major part of his New World Symphony on Negro Spirituals in the nineteenth century, and composers such as Gershwin, Copeland. Stravinsky and Ravel, wildly embracing jazz and blues in some of their popular and acclaimed works in the twentieth century. It’s Our Music Too The Black Experience in Classical Music is a fast paced, reader friendly, easy to understand look at just exactly what and how the greats in classical music have borrowed from and paid homage to jazz, blues, ragtime, boogie woogie and Negro spirituals. “Throughout I name and recommend many pieces to listen to by the greats of classical music,” notes Hutchinson, “who were directly inspired by black musical forms as well as the works of black composers who have written exceptional works that have influenced the works of other classical composers.” Hutchinson also tells how black performers such as Roland Hayes with his unique interpretations of German leider, and Marian Anderson and Jessye Norman with their distinctive tones and vibrant, fresh renderings of, and subsequent path breaking performances in the major works of opera giants, Giuseppi Verdi and Richard Wagner have greatly altered how these master’s works are heard today. It’s Our Music Too The Black Experience in Classical Music, takes the reader on an exciting, eye opening, and revealing journey through the world of classical music in which the major critics, composers and performers tell in their words their appreciation of the major contribution blacks made to classical music. “It is no exaggeration or overstatement to say that classical music does owe a debt to the black experience in classical music,” says Hutchinson, “And the goal is to show music lovers and readers how that debt continues to be paid in concert halls everywhere.”

Genres: Music

130 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 14, 2016

Reviews

[Karin · Rating 1 out of 5]

The formatting for this kindle book is atrociously bad. It also seems no one bothered to even minimally edit the book for there are mistakes in the spelling of names of pieces, composers, and performers. (See my notes.) I can still use it as a reference list for recommendations as to what to listen to but that’s about it. I was very disappointed to see nothing more than the listing of Wm. Grant Still’s opera - it was as if the paragraphs about it got dropped mysteriously. I disagree with others who reviewed this book who wrote it seemed scholarly; citing Wikipedia as a source is not what I could call scholarly. Why not go to the primary or secondary source, which by the way, 2ikipedia should have cited. This is the last time I buy a book from Kindle without a recommendation or sight unseen. I’ll keep searching for a better book on the history of Blacks in music.

[Bill Brown]

The book that I chose for the February book challenge was It's Our Music Too: The Black Experience in Classical Music by Earl Ofari Hutchinson. This was a non-fiction book that was an insightful and informative book that sheds light on the history and contributions of Black musicians in classical music.
Some things that happen early in the text the author provides a historical context of the exclusion and discrimination faced by Black classical musicians, particularly in the 19th and 20th centuries. Hutchinson also discusses the importance of music in Black culture and how classical music played a significant role in the lives of Black composers and performers, despite the challenges they faced. If history and/or classical music is something you enjoy learning about then I think this a great book to read for you.
The quality of the text is very good. I think it is very well written and was given a lot of thought. I thought the concept of writing a book like this was very interesting because Black musicians are very often overlooked in this genre, so to have a book about classical music be so different is very important. I would consider this book a valuable and important addition to the literature on classical music history and diversity. One thing I thought the book did well was how the author didn’t always focus on the downsides of the Black experience in the genre. He really tried to focus on the triumphs that they had. It challenges readers to think critically about the role of race in classical music, while also trying as much as possible to celebrate the diversity and richness of the genre.
The only thing that I did not like about the text was sometimes it could be very dense with a lot of words and there would be a lot of information to digest. It would then take longer to get through the pages sometimes, however; the conflicts and discrimination at that time were probably very complicated and nuanced. However, I think dense literature like this is important for history because it isn’t easy to describe what the world was like during that time frame in a few short sentences.
Overall it was a very good book that I recommend to people who like history, classical music, or both. This book is a thought-provoking and engaging read that could challenge readers to confront maybe some of their own biases and assumptions while celebrating the diversity and richness of the classical music genre.

[Beth Culp · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does have an academic feel to it, but it is an important look at how Blacks contributed to music and asks the reader to think critically about how we need to recognize Blacks and their contributions to the classical music world.

[Emily Stolfus · Rating 4 out of 5]

The content of this book is so important, it outweighs the sometimes unpolished academic syntax. I had NO IDEA that jazz and classical music are so inextricably linked, and I was truly floored to learn how much influence and prominence the Black community (performers and composers) has had in classical music over the years. This is something that should be better known and appreciated, and I am thankful that this book opened my eyes to this.

[Quanita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primer of African Influence on Classical Music

This book is geared towards the student, not the general reader. It lists several musicians and composers with a listening guide.