From spirituals to symphonies : African-American women composers and their music
Active in the United States since the mid-19th century, several African-American women composers gained national and international recognition during their lifetimes, only to have their work neglected after their deaths. Their particular times, communities, families, racial heritages, economic circumstances, educations, and musical training blossomed into vital musical contributions, yet African-American women composers in general remain largely unknown. This unique extensively researched book examines the history and scope of musical composition by African American women, focusing on the implications of race, gender, and class for their musical creativity. The author challenges the assumption that black women's only significant musical contributions have been in folk, jazz and pop. With unprecedented detail, she presents a category of American art shaped by the unique individual personalities of its participants, charting the lives and works of a group whose art has gone unnoticed for too many years
Print Book, English, 2002
Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn., 2002