Clarence Cameron White was born on August 22, 1880, in Clarksville, Tennessee. He spent his childhood in Oberlin, Ohio; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Washington, D.C. White began studying violin at age eight; within four years he was studying with the accomplished violinist Will Marion Cook. He attended Oberlin Conservatory from 1896-1901 (accounts differ as to whether he graduated or left just before graduation to accept a teaching position).
In the course of his subsequent performances and teaching activities, White met Paul Laurence Dunbar, Harry T. Burleigh, and Booker T. Washington. He also met the African-British composer, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, with whom he studied.
The nature of White's compositions changed over time. His early compositions were "neo-romantic" in style. As his social circles expanded, however, he turned to black folk music as a source of inspiration and musical material. Among his many compositions are: "Forty Negro Spirituals," "Kutamba Rhapsody," "Symphony in D Minor," the ballet score "A Night in Sans Souci," and a violin concerto. He also composed Ouanga, an opera based on the life of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a slave who led a revolution and became the first emperor of Haiti. Many of his compositions won awards.
In 1916 White, along with R. Nathaniel Dett, attempted to organize the National Association of Negro Music Teachers. These plans were interrupted by World War I, after which Dett and White's idea was taken up by Nora Holt. Holt formed the National Association of Negro Musicians in 1919; White was a charter member.
White remained active in music throughout his life. Among his positions were conductor of the Victorian Chamber Orchestra in Boston from 1916-20 and the Hampton Institute Choir upon Dett's retirement in 1933. White was director of music at West Virginia State College from 1924-31. He died in 1960, shortly after the completion and performance of his cantata, "Heritage."
*The birth of Clarence Cameron White in 1880 is marked on this date. He was an African American violinist and composer.
Born in Clarksville, Tennessee, Clarence Cameron White spent his childhood in Oberlin, Ohio, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Washington, D. C. He began studying the violin at the age of eight and wrote his first composition for violin and piano at age fourteen. After graduating from Howard University, White entered the Oberlin Conservatory in 1896 and graduated in 1901. He studied and performed in Boston, New Haven, and New York where he drew the attention of Paul Laurence Dunbar, Harry T. Burleigh, and Booker T. Washington.
In 1903 he was invited to join the Washington D. C. Conservatory, and he also later taught in public schools there. In the following year he met African-British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor with whom he studied in London in 1906 and again from 1908 to 1911. After performing throughout Europe he established a studio in Boston where he conducted the Victoria Concert Orchestra from 1914 until 1924. He was also director of music at West Virginia State College from 1924 to 1931. Here he first became interested in Haitian music and history through his friend, Professor John F. Matheus. The two men traveled to Haiti and together composed an opera based on the life of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a slave who led a revolution and became the first emperor of Haiti.
The opera was titled Ouanga, which means, "Voodoo Charm." The work was performed in Chicago, where it won an award from the American Opera Society of Chicago. The Burleigh Musical Association first produced it for the stage in 1949 in South Bend, Indiana. The opera was also performed in Philadelphia (1950) and in New York at Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera House (1956). After living in Chicago and Elizabeth, New Jersey, where his first wife died, White moved to New York City in 1943, and married his second wife, Pura Belpre.
He was one of the America's most exceptional composers and violinists of the first half of the twentieth century. White played a many of the principal concert halls in the United States and Europe. His tours as a violinist received critical praise. Influenced by folk music, White composed violin and orchestral works, and arranged African-American spirituals. Well-known are his Symphony in D Minor, an orchestral piece entitled Elegy, the ballet score A Night in Sans Souci, and a cantata, Heritage, which was performed at the Church of the Master shortly before his death in 1960.
Born in Clarksville, Tennessee in 1880, Clarence Cameron White was both a composer and concert violinist. His father was a doctor, and his mother was a violinist. Following in his mother’s footsteps, White studied violin at an early age and later studied at Oberlin Conservatory. Before finishing his degree, he left the institution to teach at the Washington Conservatory—an institution for black classical music (Garrett). After teaching in Washington D.C., White then decided to further his studies in Europe with composers like Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and, later, Raol Laparra. White toured extensively as a violinist and even served as the president of the National Association of Negro Musicians, an organization he helped found in 1919 (Edwards).
Aside from his teaching and personal studies, White wrote many compositions. His early pieces were mainly neo-romantic in style, but as he gained more exposure and influence, he turned more to black folk music as a source of inspiration. Among White’s compositions are Forty Negro Spirituals (1927), Kutamba Rhapsody (1942), and Symphony in D Minor. White also wrote a ballet score called A Night in Sans Souci (1929) and an opera titled Ouanga (1932) for which he won the Bispham Medal. White won many awards for his work, including two Rosenwald Fellowships, a Harmon Foundation Award, and the Benjamin Award (Edwards).
Although most of White’s successful works were written for string and piano, he also received recognition for his vocal scores. More specifically, White’s operatic works were performed at both Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera House (1956) in concert form (Garrett). Overall, White had an extensive career and remained active in music throughout his entire life. In 1960, he passed away but left behind an estimable amount of music written in a variety of forms. His work undoubtedly contributed to shaping a new black cultural identity, which African Americans intellectuals strove to create during this time period. His hard work and achievements have also impacted the classical repertoire and continue to do so to this day.
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CLARENCE CAMERON WHITE: NEO-ROMANTIC COMPOSER AND CONCERT VIOLINIST
0 POSTED BY JAE JONES - OCTOBER 1, 2018 - BLACK HISTORY, BLACK MEN, BLACK MUSIC
Clarence White was an African-American neoromantic composer and concert violinist. He is best-known for his works such as the incidental music for the play Tambour and the opera Ouanga. During the first decades of the twentieth century, White was considered the foremost violinist of his race.
Clarence Cameron White was born in Clarksville, Tennessee, on August 10, 1880 to James W. White, a doctor and school principal, and Jennie Scott White, a violinist who studied at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. His father died when he was only two years old. White relocated with his mother and younger brother to Oberlin, Ohio to live with her parents, where he was first exposed to the violin:
White received private studies in 1894 with Joseph Douglass, a notable black violinist and grandson of abolitionist Frederick Douglass, at Howard University. He attended Oberlin Conservatory of Music 1896–1901, the alma mater of his parents, where he studied with Frederick Doolittle. He the school in 1901 before graduating to accept a teaching position in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that fell through after one month. Shortly thereafter he won a violin scholarship through the Hartford School of Music where he studied with Franz Micki.
White maintained an active career as a performer, teacher, and composer. From 1902-1903, White contributed articles on violin pedagogy and history to The Negro Music Journal and from 1903-1907 served as the head of the string department of the Washington Conservatory of Music, founded by pianist, educator, and Oberlin alum, Harriet Gibbs Marshall.
After performing throughout Europe he established a studio in Boston where he conducted the Victoria Concert Orchestra from 1914 until 1924. He was also director of music at West Virginia State College from 1924 to 1931. Here he first became interested in Haitian music and history through his friend, Professor John F. Matheus. The two men traveled to Haiti and together composed an opera based on the life of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, a slave who led a revolution and became the first emperor of Haiti.
As a concert violinist he received critical praise and toured the United
Clarence Cameron White (August 10, 1880 – June 30, 1960) was an African-American violinist and composer.
Born in Clarksville, Tennessee, White spent his childhood in Oberlin, Ohio, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Washington, D. C. He began studying the violin at the age of eight and wrote his first composition for violin and piano at age fourteen. After graduating from Howard University, White entered the Oberlin Conservatory in 1896 and graduated in 1901. He studied and performed in Boston, New Haven, and New York where he drew the attention of Paul Laurence Dunbar, Harry T. Burleigh, and Booker T. Washington.
In 1903 he was invited to join the Washington D. C. Conservatory, and he also later taught in public schools there. In the following year he met the Black-British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor with whom he studied in London in 1906 and again from 1908 to 1911. After performing throughout Europe he established a studio in Boston where he conducted the Victoria Concert Orchestra from 1914 until 1924. In 1916 White, along with R. Nathaniel Dett, attempted to organize the National Association of Negro Music Teachers. These plans were interrupted by World War I, after which Dett and White’s idea was taken up by Nora Holt. Holt formed the National Association of Negro Musicians in 1919; White was a charter member.
The nature of White’s compositions changed over time. His early compositions were “neo-romantic” in style. As his social circles expanded, however, he turned to Black folk music as a source of inspiration and musical material. Among his many compositions are: Forty Negro Spirituals, Kutamba Rhapsody, Symphony in D Minor, and the ballet score A Night in Sans Souci.
White was also director of music at West Virginia State College from 1924 to 1931. Here he first became interested in Haitian music and history through his friend, Professor John F. Matheus. The two men traveled to Haiti and together composed an opera based on the life of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the enslaved African warrior who led a revolution and became the first emperor of Haiti. The opera was titled Ouanga, which means, Voodoo Charm. The work was performed in Chicago, where it won an award from the American Opera Society of Chicago. The Burleigh Musical Association first produced it for the stage in 1949 in South Bend, Indiana. The opera was also performed in Philadelphia (1950) and in New York at Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera House (1956). After living in Chicago and Elizabeth, New Jersey, where his first wife died, White moved to New York City in 1943, and married his second wife, Pura Belpre.
White was one of the America’s most exceptional composers and violinists of the first half of the twentieth century. He played at many of the principal concert halls in the United States and Europe, with his tours as a violinist receiving critical praise. He died in 1960, shortly after the completion and performance of his cantata, Heritage.
White, Clarence Cameron, African American violinist and composer; b. Clarksville, Tenn., Aug. 10, 1880; d. N.Y., June 30, 1960. He studied at the Oberlin (Ohio) Cons. (1896-1901), with Samuel Coleridge-Taylor in London (1906; 1908-10), and with Raoul Laparra in Paris (1930-32). He taught at various institutions while pursuing a concert career and was director of music at the Hampton (Va.) Inst. (1932-35). In 1919 he helped to organize the National Assn. of Negro Musicians. He won the Bispham Medal for his opera Ouanga (1932) and the Benjamin Award for his Elegy for Orch. (1954). His major works were written in a neo-Romantic style with occasional infusions of Negro folk melos.
Works
Dramatic: Opera: Ouanga (concert perf., Chicago, Nov. 1932; stage perf., South Bend, Ind., June 10, 1949); Carnival Romance (1952). Ballet: A Night in Sans Souci (1929). Incidental Music To: J. Matheus’s Tambour (1929). ORCH.: Sym.; Kutamba Rhapsody (1942); Elegy (1954); Dance Rhapsody (1955); Poeme (1955). CHAMBER: Bandana Sketches, violin suite (1918); From the Cotton Fields, violin suite (1920); 2 string quartets (1931, 1931); Legende d’Afrique for Cello and Piano (1955); keyboard pieces. VOCAL: Heritage for Soprano, Tenor, Chorus, and Orch. (1959); songs; numerous arrangements of spirituals, including 40 Negro Spirituals (1927) and Traditional Negro Spirituals (1940).
Clarence Cameron White
Maud Cuney Hare-Clarence Cameron White 329.jpg
Background information
Born August 10, 1880
Clarksville, Tennessee, United States
Died June 30, 1960 (aged 79)
New York, New York, United States
Genres classical music
Occupation(s) composer, violinist, educator
Years active 1901-1960
Clarence Cameron White (August 10, 1880 – June 30, 1960) was an African-American neoromantic composer and concert violinist. Dramatic works by the composer were his best-known, such as the incidental music for the play Tambour and the opera Ouanga. During the first decades of the twentieth century, White was considered the foremost violinist of his race. He was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
Contents
1 Early years
2 Education
3 Career
4 Personal life
5 Compositional Style
6 List of musical compositions
7 Methods books
8 References
9 External links
Early years
Born in Clarksville, Tennessee to James W. White, a doctor and school principal, and Jennie Scott White, a violinist who studied at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. His father died when he was only two years old. White relocated with his mother and younger brother to Oberlin, Ohio to live with her parents, where he was first exposed to the violin:
My mother took me to hear The Messiah sung at the conservatory and I came away humming snatches of it. Mother thought I had a good musical ear and persuaded my grandfather, who was a religious man, to give me his violin...I was only six at the time, nevertheless, my grandfather pouted, "I'll give him the violin. But if he ever plays at a dance I'll take it back."[1]
In 1890, Mrs. White remarried and White relocated with his family to Washington D.C., whose black communities had rich and active music scenes. Two years later, White met the violinist and composer Will Marion Cook, resulting from White falling asleep during Cook's recital:
One evening my mother took me to hear the pupils of Mrs. Alice Strange Davis, the most renowned piano teacher in Washington...I was especially anxious to hear Will Marion Cook play the violin. He...was to play a number toward the end of the program. As usual a program by pupils is rather a long-drawn-out affair, so by the time for Cook's number I had fallen asleep. I was awakened by a tremendous applause after his solo. When I was told that he had played I burst out crying and made such a fuss that my mother had to hustle me out of the concert and I went home in disgrace.[2]
Cook inquired about the upset young boy and offered to give White violin lessons in the summer of 1892, an experience that had a profound effect on White: "Every lesson was one of pure joy, and it was during this period that I definitely made up my mind to be a violinist."[2]
Education
White continued his private studies in 1894 with Joseph Douglass, another notable black violinist and grandson of abolitionist Frederick Douglass, at Howard University. He attended Oberlin Conservatory of Music 1896–1901, the alma mater of his parents, where he studied with Frederick Doolittle, Cook's former violin teacher.[2] White left in 1901 before graduating to accept a teaching position in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that fell through after one month.[3] Shortly thereafter he won a violin scholarship through the Hartford School of Music where he studied with Franz Micki.[3]
White was a protégé of Emma Azalia Hackley who raised money for his scholarship to allow him to study abroad. Traveling to London, he studied composition with Samuel Coleridge-Taylor in 1906; he returned to the city again from 1908 to 1910 to study violin with Michael Zacharewitsch.[4] During the period of 1930–1932, he studied with Raoul Laparra in Paris.
Career
White maintained an active career as a performer, teacher, and composer. From 1902-1903, White contributed articles on violin pedagogy and history to The Negro Music Journal and from 1903-1907 served as the head of the string department of the Washington Conservatory of Music, founded by pianist, educator,and Oberlin alum, Harriet Gibbs Marshall.[5][6][7] As a concert violinist he received critical praise and toured the United States with his wife, pianist Beatrice Warrick White. A founding member of the National Association of Negro Musicians, White served as the organization's president from 1922 to 1924.[8] From 1924 to 1930, he taught at West Virginia State College and succeeded R. Nathaniel Dett as head of the music department of Hampton Institute from (1932—1935).[9][10] In this period he wrote his best-known works: the ballet, A Night in Sans Souci—from the play Tambour, and the opera Ouanga. The lead role in Ouanga had been performed by baritone Lawrence Winters. These works are based on Haitian themes working with playwright and librettist John Matheus.
Personal life
On April 24, 1905, he married pianist Beatrice Warrick.[11] To this union were born two children:
William Warrick White (March 27, 1906–?)
Clarence Cameron White, Jr. (March 11, 1908–January 30, 1913)[11]
Beatrice died at their home in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in October 1942. White soon moved to New York City and in 1943 married the librarian, writer, and puppeteer, Pura Belpré. White died from cancer on June 30, 1960.[12]
Compositional Style
White's compositions contained a similar aesthetic to contemporaries and mentors such as William Grant Still, Florence Price, R. Nathaniel Dett, and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. White drew upon thematic and harmonic content from African American and other African diasporic musical styles and traditions. His early output consisted of compositions that incorporated quotes of spirituals and arrangements of spirituals such as Bandanna Sketches: Four Negro Spirituals, Camp Song:(Water Boy), Levee Dance, Forty Negro Spirituals, and Traditional Negro Spirituals. As he matured, the forms utilized by the composer became more varied. The 1954 Benjamin Award was presented to him for Elegy, a composition for orchestra. He also used decidedly 'Negro' themes for his string quartet and other chamber music.
List of musical compositions
Bandanna Sketches: Four Negro Spirituals (1918)
From The Cotton Fields Op. 18 (1920)
Forty Negro Spirituals (1927)
Camp Song: (Water Boy) Op. 26 No. 1 (1927)
Levee Dance Op.26 No.2 (1927)
Tambour (1929), a play by John Matheus
Ouanga! (1932)
Legende d'Afrique (1955)
Spiritual Suite (1956) for four clarinets
Elegy for orchestra
Methods books
A System of One Octave Scale Studies for the Violin (1915)
The Violinist's Daily Dozen, Twelve Special Studies for the Development of Correct Finger Action in Violin Playing (1924)