Many black female firsts have been breaking down barriers of race and gender going all the way back to the 1700’s in America. In the last two posts we related the fascinating stories of black women in television. These women all led very different lives, but each one of them contributed to raising the perception of black artists to a new high. Through the medium of television millions of Americans invited black women into their homes and appreciated their talents.
These next two posts will cover black women in music. It took a lot of boldness on the part of a black woman to step into an all-white space. Some, like Marian Anderson, were refused a place on a stage. Many rose above their circumstances to follow their calling anyway. I included some YouTube videos for you of what are significant moments in American history as Marian Anderson and Leontyne Price helped to remove prejudice against African Americans and open the way for many more black artists to follow.
Thanks to the resolve of the women in the early years whose stories we have been covering for the last few months, things have begun to change in the United States. It is hard for us today to imagine the kinds of discrimination that Black women suffered in those days. We have come a long way in granting equal opportunity for all persons. There still exists some blind prejudice. These stories are my effort to raise the awareness of the true equality of all people.
Black Women Firsts in Music
Marian Anderson – First to perform at New York Met Opera (1897-1993)
“What I heard today one is privileged to hear only in a hundred years.” Arturo Toscanini, Salzburg, 1935.
This is a Christian blog and so I am thrilled when I read about the Christian testimony of many of the black women “firsts” in America. Most of the women have been religious though some have been more vocal about their faith than others. Both Marian Anderson and Leontyne Price grew up in Christian homes. Both continued to sing gospel music throughout their lives, even though they went on to be famous for secular music.
Marian attended Union Baptist Church as a child where she loved singing hymns and spirituals. Her musical ability was apparent by the time she was 6 years old. Her father bought her a used piano and Marian and her sister taught themselves to play. By age 13 she was singing in the adult choir. Her voice range was an incredible three octaves, low D to high C. Singing in the choir gave Marian opportunity to practice her range of voice. She took home the music and learned all of the parts, so she could substitute for any choir member, soprano, alto, tenor, or bass. Few singers in history have ever matched this!
Marian was advised to get training, but her parents were poor and struggled to raise the children. Union Baptist church had so much faith in Marian that they raised the money to pay for private lessons with Giuseppe Boghetti, a famous teacher. After two years of study, she was performing all over her community and entering national music competitions.
Marian was talented enough to be a soprano in opera if she had trained that way, but she remained a contralto. Of course, there are contralto parts in opera as well, but the sopranos usually become the divas. As a young woman Marian was interested in the German lieder (songs) and pursued study in Berlin. In 1933 she toured Europe giving over 100 concerts in a year in the Scandinavian countries. She visited the home of Sibelius who dedicated his composition “Solitude” to her. She continued to study in Europe singing music by Handel, Scarlatti, Strauss, Brahms, Schubert, Schuman, Dvorak, Rimsky-Korsakov, Pergolesi, and Rachmaninoff. When Arturo Toscanini made his famous remark about her, he was complimenting not only her voice, but also the entire way Marian practiced the art of music. When she sang, people were inspired[1].
Marian had a brilliant international career performing classical works as well as African American spirituals. In 1957 the State Department sent her on a tour of Asian Nations where she sang for the people and listened to their concerns. In 1958 she served as a delegate to the United Nations. She continued to entrance audiences around the world for over thirty years. She was constantly asked to sing Schubert’s “Ave Maria”.
Eventually Marian decided to return to her family in the United States. In the spring of 1939, she was planning to give a concert in Washington, D.C. She wanted to appear at Constitution Hall. It was owned by theDaughters of the American Revolution. The D.A.R. refused to allow Marian on the stage because she was African American. An outraged Eleanor Roosevelt resigned her membership in the D.A. R. Marian was invited to sing at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter morning. She thrilled an audience of over 75,000 people who attended. Millions more were enthralled by the songs of this courageous woman over the radio.
Marian’s brave, forthright, and non-abrasive reactions to the bigotry helped to open the way for more black entertainers in America. Being refused a place on the stage due to her skin color was a shocking event for Marian, but the incident focused public attention on institutionalized racism in the United States. On the historic, ground-breaking day, she sang “America”, an aria from a Donizetti opera, and Schubert’s “Ave Maria”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzx6q3QP_yY
Marian also helped to break down racial barriers when she sang at the White House for Franklin D. Roosevelt. She also opened the way for other black artists in 1955 when she became the first African American to perform at the New York Metropolitan Opera when she sang the part of Ulrica in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera.
Marian sang at two presidential inaugurations – those of Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. She also served as a delegate to the United Nations. President Kennedy awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963. In 1986 she received the National Medal of Arts. Marian made a rare appearance to help with the dedication of St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children’s pediatric sickle-cell anemia clinic and research center which was named in her honor. She received many life-time achievement awards. Below – Marian receives the Springarn Award from Eleanor Roosevelt.
Marian died at the home of her nephew in Portland, Oregon at the age of 91. Thankfully, many concerts are available on YouTube. I encourage you to go and listen to especially the gospel recordings.
Leontyne Price – (b. 1927). First to appear on an opera on television
“The color of my skin or the kink of my hair or the spread of my mouth has nothing to do with what you are listening to.” Leontyne Price
Though Marian Anderson was the first black woman to sing at the Met Opera, Leontyne Price was the first black woman to sing as a prima donna with the New York Metropolitan Opera. On January 27, 1961, when she sang in Il Trovatore, she received a standing ovation that lasted for forty-two minutes!! Her beautiful, lyrical, warm, and passionate soprano voice had already begun to enthrall millions for many years.
Mary Violet Leontyne Price was born in 1927. Her parents recognized her extraordinary musical talent when she was just a toddler. They bought her a toy piano when she was just three years old. She took lessons and by the time she was five they bought her a real piano. When she was nine years old, she heard Marian Anderson sing in a concert and was determined to become an opera singer. She said of the experience, “When I first heard Marian Anderson, it was a vision of elegance and nobility. It was one of the most enthralling, marvelous experiences I’ve ever had. I can’t tell you how inspired I was to do something even similar to what she was doing. That was what you might call the original kick-off.”[2]
Leontyne studied music at Wilberforce College in Ohio and voice at the prestigious Juilliard School. She made her debut at New York’s Town Hall in 1954. She became the first African American to sing in a leading operatic role on national television. She made appearances in the United States and internationally. In 1960, she made her first appearance at La Scala in Milan, Italy. She performed throughout the 1970’s.
In 1952 Leontyne made her debut singing the role of Bess in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. David Hume of the Washington Post said, “Leontyne Price sings the most exciting and thrilling Bess we have heard…. And her acting is as fiery as her singing.” After this, Leontyne’s career took off. In 1955 Leontyne became the first black to appear on national television in an NBC-TV Opera Workshop. They gave her leading roles in many productions to follow.
Leontyne made an historic appearance at the Met when she sang the part of Leonora in Verdi’s Il Trovatore in 1961. She was the fifth black artist to sing in a major role since Marian Anderson (1955). Leontyne sang in many popular works including Madame Butterfly, Tosca, Aida, Falstaff, Don Giovanni, Antony and Cleopatra. Leontyne continued to enchant audiences worldwide for many years.
Leontyne gave her last performance at the Metropolitan Opera on January 3, 1985, singing “O patria mia” in Verdi’s Aida.
The telecast was live from Lincoln Center. But this did not end her career in singing. Leontyne retired from Opera in 1985 so that she could appear in other venues. Her programs usually contained Handel arias, German Lieder, French and American art songs. Like Marian Anderson she always included spirituals. She sang in her last public performance at Carnegie Hall in September 2001. This concert was a memorial for the victims of the 9/11 attacks.
You can find examples of Leontyne singing the beautiful spirituals and hymns on YouTube.
Leontyne has won more than twenty Grammys, the NAACP Spingarn Medal, a Kennedy Center Honor, and the National Medal of Arts. She has won three Emmy Awards for her work on television. She received the highest award possible, the Presidential Freedom Medal from President Lyndon B. Johnson. Leontyne has worked in schools in Harlem providing affordable music lessons to children. She wrote a book, Aida, which won the Coretta Scott King Award for Excellence in 1990.
Leontyne has also been an ambassador for opera, introducing it to many who never thought they would ever listen to an opera. Ok, Mary, you might say. This is nice information, but I can’t stand opera. All those women with screechy voices really turn me off. Well, let Leontyne introduce you to opera. Many people who did have testified that they didn’t know it could be so beautiful. Please give the following video a try and I think you will agree that it is one of the most beautiful things you have ever heard.
Background to story: Aida was an Ethiopian slave captured by Egyptians in a war. Because of her rank as a princess, she was to be the personal slave of the Egyptian princess. In this video you will hear Aida sing about how she misses her homeland (“O patria mia”) and longs to see it again.
At the end of this YouTube there are many others you can sample to hear this most talented singer of all times. If you still don’t like opera, ok. You can listen to many of Leontyne Price’s spirituals and gospel music.
God bless you.
[1] One of those who was inspired to do great things was Leontyne Price. Her story is below.
[2] From Current Biography, New York: H. W. Wilson Co, 1978, (page 329).
Black Women in America – Part 21
Black American Women in Music
Many black female firsts have been breaking down barriers of race and gender going all the way back to the 1700’s in America. In the last two posts we related the fascinating stories of black women in television. These women all led very different lives, but each one of them contributed to raising the perception of black artists to a new high. Through the medium of television millions of Americans invited black women into their homes and appreciated their talents.
These next two posts will cover black women in music. It took a lot of boldness on the part of a black woman to step into an all-white space. Some, like Marian Anderson, were refused a place on a stage. Many rose above their circumstances to follow their calling anyway. I included some YouTube videos for you of what are significant moments in American history as Marian Anderson and Leontyne Price helped to remove prejudice against African Americans and open the way for many more black artists to follow.
Thanks to the resolve of the women in the early years whose stories we have been covering for the last few months, things have begun to change in the United States. It is hard for us today to imagine the kinds of discrimination that Black women suffered in those days. We have come a long way in granting equal opportunity for all persons. There still exists some blind prejudice. These stories are my effort to raise the awareness of the true equality of all people.
Black Women Firsts in Music
Marian Anderson – First to perform at New York Met Opera (1897-1993)
“What I heard today one is privileged to hear only in a hundred years.” Arturo Toscanini, Salzburg, 1935.
This is a Christian blog and so I am thrilled when I read about the Christian testimony of many of the black women “firsts” in America. Most of the women have been religious though some have been more vocal about their faith than others. Both Marian Anderson and Leontyne Price grew up in Christian homes. Both continued to sing gospel music throughout their lives, even though they went on to be famous for secular music.
Marian attended Union Baptist Church as a child where she loved singing hymns and spirituals. Her musical ability was apparent by the time she was 6 years old. Her father bought her a used piano and Marian and her sister taught themselves to play. By age 13 she was singing in the adult choir. Her voice range was an incredible three octaves, low D to high C. Singing in the choir gave Marian opportunity to practice her range of voice. She took home the music and learned all of the parts, so she could substitute for any choir member, soprano, alto, tenor, or bass. Few singers in history have ever matched this!
Marian was advised to get training, but her parents were poor and struggled to raise the children. Union Baptist church had so much faith in Marian that they raised the money to pay for private lessons with Giuseppe Boghetti, a famous teacher. After two years of study, she was performing all over her community and entering national music competitions.
Marian was talented enough to be a soprano in opera if she had trained that way, but she remained a contralto. Of course, there are contralto parts in opera as well, but the sopranos usually become the divas. As a young woman Marian was interested in the German lieder (songs) and pursued study in Berlin. In 1933 she toured Europe giving over 100 concerts in a year in the Scandinavian countries. She visited the home of Sibelius who dedicated his composition “Solitude” to her. She continued to study in Europe singing music by Handel, Scarlatti, Strauss, Brahms, Schubert, Schuman, Dvorak, Rimsky-Korsakov, Pergolesi, and Rachmaninoff. When Arturo Toscanini made his famous remark about her, he was complimenting not only her voice, but also the entire way Marian practiced the art of music. When she sang, people were inspired[1].
Marian had a brilliant international career performing classical works as well as African American spirituals. In 1957 the State Department sent her on a tour of Asian Nations where she sang for the people and listened to their concerns. In 1958 she served as a delegate to the United Nations. She continued to entrance audiences around the world for over thirty years. She was constantly asked to sing Schubert’s “Ave Maria”.
Eventually Marian decided to return to her family in the United States. In the spring of 1939, she was planning to give a concert in Washington, D.C. She wanted to appear at Constitution Hall. It was owned by theDaughters of the American Revolution. The D.A.R. refused to allow Marian on the stage because she was African American. An outraged Eleanor Roosevelt resigned her membership in the D.A. R. Marian was invited to sing at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter morning. She thrilled an audience of over 75,000 people who attended. Millions more were enthralled by the songs of this courageous woman over the radio.
Marian’s brave, forthright, and non-abrasive reactions to the bigotry helped to open the way for more black entertainers in America. Being refused a place on the stage due to her skin color was a shocking event for Marian, but the incident focused public attention on institutionalized racism in the United States. On the historic, ground-breaking day, she sang “America”, an aria from a Donizetti opera, and Schubert’s “Ave Maria”.
Marian also helped to break down racial barriers when she sang at the White House for Franklin D. Roosevelt. She also opened the way for other black artists in 1955 when she became the first African American to perform at the New York Metropolitan Opera when she sang the part of Ulrica in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera.
Marian sang at two presidential inaugurations – those of Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. She also served as a delegate to the United Nations. President Kennedy awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963. In 1986 she received the National Medal of Arts. Marian made a rare appearance to help with the dedication of St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children’s pediatric sickle-cell anemia clinic and research center which was named in her honor. She received many life-time achievement awards. Below – Marian receives the Springarn Award from Eleanor Roosevelt.
Marian died at the home of her nephew in Portland, Oregon at the age of 91. Thankfully, many concerts are available on YouTube. I encourage you to go and listen to especially the gospel recordings.
Leontyne Price – (b. 1927). First to appear on an opera on television
“The color of my skin or the kink of my hair or the spread of my mouth has nothing to do with what you are listening to.” Leontyne Price
Though Marian Anderson was the first black woman to sing at the Met Opera, Leontyne Price was the first black woman to sing as a prima donna with the New York Metropolitan Opera. On January 27, 1961, when she sang in Il Trovatore, she received a standing ovation that lasted for forty-two minutes!! Her beautiful, lyrical, warm, and passionate soprano voice had already begun to enthrall millions for many years.
Mary Violet Leontyne Price was born in 1927. Her parents recognized her extraordinary musical talent when she was just a toddler. They bought her a toy piano when she was just three years old. She took lessons and by the time she was five they bought her a real piano. When she was nine years old, she heard Marian Anderson sing in a concert and was determined to become an opera singer. She said of the experience, “When I first heard Marian Anderson, it was a vision of elegance and nobility. It was one of the most enthralling, marvelous experiences I’ve ever had. I can’t tell you how inspired I was to do something even similar to what she was doing. That was what you might call the original kick-off.”[2]
Leontyne studied music at Wilberforce College in Ohio and voice at the prestigious Juilliard School. She made her debut at New York’s Town Hall in 1954. She became the first African American to sing in a leading operatic role on national television. She made appearances in the United States and internationally. In 1960, she made her first appearance at La Scala in Milan, Italy. She performed throughout the 1970’s.
In 1952 Leontyne made her debut singing the role of Bess in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. David Hume of the Washington Post said, “Leontyne Price sings the most exciting and thrilling Bess we have heard…. And her acting is as fiery as her singing.” After this, Leontyne’s career took off. In 1955 Leontyne became the first black to appear on national television in an NBC-TV Opera Workshop. They gave her leading roles in many productions to follow.
Leontyne made an historic appearance at the Met when she sang the part of Leonora in Verdi’s Il Trovatore in 1961. She was the fifth black artist to sing in a major role since Marian Anderson (1955). Leontyne sang in many popular works including Madame Butterfly, Tosca, Aida, Falstaff, Don Giovanni, Antony and Cleopatra. Leontyne continued to enchant audiences worldwide for many years.
Leontyne gave her last performance at the Metropolitan Opera on January 3, 1985, singing “O patria mia” in Verdi’s Aida.
The telecast was live from Lincoln Center. But this did not end her career in singing. Leontyne retired from Opera in 1985 so that she could appear in other venues. Her programs usually contained Handel arias, German Lieder, French and American art songs. Like Marian Anderson she always included spirituals. She sang in her last public performance at Carnegie Hall in September 2001. This concert was a memorial for the victims of the 9/11 attacks.
You can find examples of Leontyne singing the beautiful spirituals and hymns on YouTube.
Leontyne has won more than twenty Grammys, the NAACP Spingarn Medal, a Kennedy Center Honor, and the National Medal of Arts. She has won three Emmy Awards for her work on television. She received the highest award possible, the Presidential Freedom Medal from President Lyndon B. Johnson. Leontyne has worked in schools in Harlem providing affordable music lessons to children. She wrote a book, Aida, which won the Coretta Scott King Award for Excellence in 1990.
Leontyne has also been an ambassador for opera, introducing it to many who never thought they would ever listen to an opera. Ok, Mary, you might say. This is nice information, but I can’t stand opera. All those women with screechy voices really turn me off. Well, let Leontyne introduce you to opera. Many people who did have testified that they didn’t know it could be so beautiful. Please give the following video a try and I think you will agree that it is one of the most beautiful things you have ever heard.
Background to story: Aida was an Ethiopian slave captured by Egyptians in a war. Because of her rank as a princess, she was to be the personal slave of the Egyptian princess. In this video you will hear Aida sing about how she misses her homeland (“O patria mia”) and longs to see it again.
At the end of this YouTube there are many others you can sample to hear this most talented singer of all times. If you still don’t like opera, ok. You can listen to many of Leontyne Price’s spirituals and gospel music.
God bless you.
[1] One of those who was inspired to do great things was Leontyne Price. Her story is below.
[2] From Current Biography, New York: H. W. Wilson Co, 1978, (page 329).
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It is vital that every child in Nebraska, whether native, white, immigrant or offspring of former slave, be afforded an opportunity to learn.
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