LibGuides: Black Classical Music and Musicians: Research

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General Resources

Books (selections)

African American Music by Mellonee V. Burnim and Portia K. Maultsby (Eds.)
Call Number: ML3556 A373 [Allen shelves]
Publication Date: 2006
Surveys major African American musical genres, both sacred and secular, from slavery to the present.
Blacks in Classical Music II by John Gray
Call Number: ML128 B6 G73 2023 [Allen reference]
Publication Date: 2023
An overview of scholarly and mainstream writings on the lives and work of some 2000 black artists, ensembles, and organizations in the United States and worldwide, in all forms of chamber and symphonic music as well as sacred and secular vocal music .
It's Our Music Too: The Black Experience in Classical Music by Earl Hutchinson
Call Number: ML3545 H87 2016 [Allen shelves]
Tells the story of how Blacks have influenced the development, history, and structure of classical music.
The Music of Black Americans by Eileen Southern
Call Number: ML3556 S72 M 1997 [Allen shelves]
Comprehensive coverage of Black American music, from the arrival of the first Africans in the English colonies to contemporary developments in African-American history.
See also Harvard's companion website with an inventory of all musical examples from the book.
The Transformation of Black Music by Samuel A. Floyd, Melanie Zeck, & Guthrie P. Ramsey
Call Number: ML3545 F56 T73 2017 [Allen shelves]
Explores the full spectrum of black musics over the past thousand years, situating them in a broader framework of cultural, political, and social histories.

Find more books about Black music and musicians

Click to see the newest black studies books in the Allen Library

Search subjects in the catalog:
African American musicians
African Americans > music
Black people > music
Music and race
Musicians, Black

Music Reference Databases

Grove/Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new window
Music encyclopedia with works lists and citations. Search a particular person's name or terms such as "Black" or "African American." See especially the entry on African American Music.
Oxford Bibliographies - Music This link opens in a new window
Citation lists on many music subjects and people. Search a particular person's name.

Professional Journals (selections)

Journals are a great place to learn from experts about the most recent developments in a particular field.
Search articles online or browse the Allen Library current periodicals (near the Allen entrance). See especially:

Black Music Research Journal by Center for Black Music Research
Available online (1980-2016).
Journal of the Musical Arts in Africa
Available online only.

Journal Article Databases

Library databases provide citations for articles, book chapters, and more. Most articles/chapters focus on a narrow and specific topic, so they are great for deeper research. To get started:

Choose a database.
Search for keywords such as genres, topics, names of people, etc.
Limit your results by date, language, and more with the the left-hand menu on the results page.

Need more help?

See our Article help page for step-by-step instructions and videos to help you search databases and find full-text articles. And you can always ask a librarian for individual help.

Music Article Databases

Music Index Online This link opens in a new window
Article citations from over 700 music journals.
Music Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window
Article citations from over 400 music journals.
RILM This link opens in a new window
Citations for scholarly music and dance books, articles, dissertations, and more.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Full-text articles from almost 100 scholarly music, dance, and theatre journals, plus other subjects. Excludes recent years.
Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
Article citations from all disciplines, including music, dance, and theatre.

Composers

Books in the Allen Library (selections)

From Spirituals to Symphonies: African-American Women Composers and their Music by Helen Walker-Hill
Call Number: ML390 W35 F76 [Allen shelves]
Publication Date: 2002
Examination of the history and scope of musical composition by African-American women, focusing on the implications of race, gender, and class for their musical creativity.
International Dictionary of Black Composers by Samuel A. Floyd (Ed.)
Call Number: ML105 F56 B53 v.1-2 [Allen reference]
Publication Date: 1999
Essays, composition lists, and bibliographies on 185 Black composers. Covers all genres, but nearly half are classical composers.
Musical Landscapes in Color by William C. Banfield
Call Number: ML390 B34 M87 [Allen shelves]
Publication Date: 2003
Traces the lives and careers of 40 Black composers and provides perspectives on a world that has been slow to recognize their remarkable contributions to classical music.

Find more books about Black composers

Search subjects in the catalog...
African American musicians
African American women composers
Composers, Black
Musicians, Black

...or search for specific composers, for example:
Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel
Dédé, Edmond
Price, Florence
Still, William Grant
Walker, George

Don't know what names to search? See the Repertoire page.

Performers

Books in the Allen Library (selections)

Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians by Eileen Southern
Call Number: ML105 S72 [Allen shelves & reference]
Publication Date: 1982
Biographical Dictionary of Black Musicians and Music Educators by Lemuel Berry
Call Number: ML105 B53 [Allen reference]
Publication Date: 1978
Black Conductors by D. Antoinette Handy
Call Number: ML402 H31 1995 [Allen reference]
The first collective biography of Black American conductors of instrumental ensembles from the early 19th century to the present.
Black Women in American Bands and Orchestras by D. Antoinette Handy
Call Number: ML128 W8 H 1998 [Allen reference]
Profiles of Black women who performed or were affiliated with orchestras and bands in the United States.
Singing Like Germans by Kira Thurman
Call Number: ML3917 G3 T48 2021 [Allen shelves]
Tells the story of Black musicians in German-speaking Europe over more than a century, exploring how people reinforced or challenged racial identities in the concert hall.

Find more books about Black musicians

Search subjects in the catalog...
African American musicians
Musicians, Black

...or search for specific musicians, for example:
Anderson, Marian
Blind Tom
Hayes, Roland
The Jubilee Singers

Vocal Music

Websites

The African American Art Song Alliance
Promotes the contributions made by African-Americans to art song. Their website includes lists of composers, performers, and scholars, plus links to dozens of helpful resources.
The Spirituals Database
Information for concert Negro Spiritual settings recorded by solo classical vocalists.

Books in the Allen Library (selections)

And So I Sing: African-American Divas of Opera and Concert by Rosalyn M. Story
Call Number: ML400 S86 [Allen shelves]
Publication Date: 1993
Profiles 32 singers. Includes biographies of Marion Anderson, Leontyne Price, Martina Arroya, and Grace Bumbry.
Black Opera: History, Power, Engagement by Naomi Andre
Call Number: ML1700 A53 B5 2018 [Allen shelves]
Reveals how black opera unearths suppressed truths that provoke complex reconsideration of racial, gender, sexual, and other oppressive ideologies.
Blackness in Opera by Naomi Andre, Karen M. Bryan, & Eric Saylor (Eds.)
Call Number: ML1700 B533 [Allen shelves]
Publication Date: 2014
Critically examines the intersections of race and music in the multifaceted genre of opera.
Singing Like Germans by Kira Thurman
Call Number: ML3917 G3 T48 2021 [Allen shelves]
Tells the story of Black musicians in German-speaking Europe over more than a century, exploring how people reinforced or challenged racial identities in the concert hall.

Suggest a Resource

Know of a resource you think should be added to this guide? Let us know!

Want to suggest we purchase something new? Contact Tracey Rudnick (rudnick@hartford.edu).

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