ArkivMusic Reissues 1993 Music & Arts CD 'Piano Music By William Grant Still And Other Black Composers' by Monica Gaylord, Pianist

Piano Music By William Grant Still And Other Black Composers / Gaylord

Release Date: 09/28/1993 
Label:  Music & Arts Programs Of America Catalog #: 737   Spars Code: DDD
Composer:  William Grant Still,  Howard Swanson,  R. Nathaniel Dett,  Ulysses S. Kay,   ... 
Performer:  Monica Gaylord
Number of Discs: 1 
Recorded in: Stereo 
Length: 1 Hours 17 Mins.

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Works on This Recording

1. Three Visions by William Grant Still

Performer:  Monica Gaylord (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1936; USA

2. Seven Traceries by William Grant Still

Performer:  Monica Gaylord (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1939; USA

3. The Cuckoo by Howard Swanson

Performer:  Monica Gaylord (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1946; USA

4. In the Bottoms by R. Nathaniel Dett

Performer:  Monica Gaylord (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: by 1913; USA

5. Inventions (4) for Piano: in G minor by Ulysses S. Kay

Performer:  Monica Gaylord (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1946; USA

6. Inventions (4) for Piano: in A minor by Ulysses S. Kay

Performer:  Monica Gaylord (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1946; USA

7. Inventions (4) for Piano: in C major by Ulysses S. Kay

Performer:  Monica Gaylord (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1946; USA

8. Gentle Waltz for Piano by Oscar Peterson

Performer:  Monica Gaylord (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Notes: Transcribed: D. McErlain 

9. Black, Brown and Beige Suite: Come Sunday by Edward "Duke" Ellington

Performer:  Monica Gaylord (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1943; New York, USA
Notes: Transcribed: D. McErlain 

10. Valse-Suite for Piano, Op. 71 "Three-fours": no 1 in A minor by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Performer:  Monica Gaylord (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: by 1909; England

11. Valse-Suite for Piano, Op. 71 "Three-fours": no 2 in A flat major by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Performer:  Monica Gaylord (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: by 1909; England

12. Valse-Suite for Piano, Op. 71 "Three-fours": no 6 in C minor by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Performer:  Monica Gaylord (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: by 1909; England

13. Appalachia: Big Bunch of Roses by Work, John Wesley, Jr.

Performer:  Monica Gaylord (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1945; USA 

Notes and Editorial Reviews

The average birthdate of these eight composers is 1900, and the youngest of them, Oscar Peterson, is sixty-seven. So this is a nostalgic look at the music of black composers; there is no Anthony Davis here. William Grant Still's music has flowed into the cracks of our national musical heritage; I call a composer great who has created a single masterpiece, and Still's “A Black Pierrot“ from his Songs of Separation is as haunting a song as Schubert or Wolf ever composed. Three Visions are evocative miniature tone poems and the Seven Traceries are impressionist sound paintings. 

Howard Swanson's The Cuckoo is a light, gay scherzo and trio, with the bird cuckooing away in one hand while the other flies all over the keyboard. Robert Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943) studied with Nadia Boulanger, earned degrees from Oberlin and Eastman, conducted choral societies, performed before presidents, and was awarded honorary doctorates from Harvard and Oberlin. His In the Bottoms depicts “black man's slave camps at the river's edge.“ The five pieces go from somber contemplation to a gay dance. Ulysses Kay's three Inventions are brief, formal pieces. John Wesley Work, Jr., studied at Columbia and Yale and became chairman of the music department at Fisk University. His Big Bunch of Roses starts with a Negro folk tune and develops in a colorful and relaxed way. Oscar Peterson's The Gentle Waltz is languorous and jazzy and sweet, Duke Ellington's Come Sunday is a soft, flowing hymn with a touch of the blues; both pieces are played in arrangements by jazz pianist Denny McErlain. 

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was another master composer; every work of his I have heard is at least worthy, often inspired. His suite of three waltzes—Allegro molto, Andante, Allegro assai— stands out even among all this lovely music. It has warmth, individuality, melodic charm, and a sturdy, upright dignity without a hint of pomposity that is his own special character. Monica Gaylord studied at Juilliard and Eastman and has played throughout the United States and Canada. She has a beautiful touch for these winning works, and when it comes to Coleridge-Taylor's heroic final coda, she peals forth bronze thunder; if this were a live recital, it would bring down the house. The pianist also writes the notes, in which she shows herself to be a knowledgeable historian and a fine writer. A fine recording rounds out the assets of this lovely disc. 

-- James H. North, FANFARE [3/1993] 

[Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912); R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943); Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899-1974); Ulysses Simpson Kay (1917-1995) William Grant Still (1895-1978) are profiled at AfriClassical.com, which features a comprehensive Works List for Coleridge-Taylor, Dett, Kay and Still by Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma, http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com]