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Cedille

A Celebration - Perkinson: Grass, Etc / Freeman, Et Al

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Details

Composer
PERKINSON, COLERIDGE-TAYLOR
Artist
Joubert, Allen, Whittington
Format
CD
Label
Cedille
Released
Jan 01, 2005
Catalog #
CDR 087
UPC
735131908726

About





This posthumous anthology consisting of selections from 50 years of work by composer Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932?2004) includes six world premieres?that is to say, it took 50 years for this man?s lifetime output to be recognized. Perhaps that is not so shocking. After all, how easy was it for a black man in the 1950s to obtain a bachelor?s and master?s degree from Manhattan School of Music, and compose his first major work at the age of 22 within the confines of a segregated society? But Perkinson, the namesake of black British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875?1912), didn?t consider himself generically a black composer. Whether or not he allowed himself to be typecast as an ethnic artist, Perkinson?s interpretation of white, WASP, and Western musical convention is spiked with vintage blues and jazz. His music is, therefore, in an uncanny and paradoxical way, the reverse of the cultural plundering associated with Gershwin?s and Dvo?ák?s musical appropriations. Consequently, if Perkinson?s music isn?t especially innovative, we shouldn?t be surprised that a victim of discrimination and ghettoization would not choose to further isolate himself by throwing 12-tone rows into the mix. After all, experimentation is the spawn of prosperity, not the privilege of the hardship.


Perkinson?s Sinfonietta No. 1 for strings, composed in 1955, might have been considered, if composed by a young Caucasian, the work of a wunderkind. The precocious piece is an homage to Bach, and throughout his life Perkinson returned to fugal writing as a religious rite of appreciation for the German master. Two years later, Perkinson began to infiltrate into his technique the echoes of his ancestor slaves. Quartet No. 1 , based on ?Calvary? (Negro Spiritual) weaves together the dualism of his segregated world into one lucid harmonious dream.


The next selection on the disc was composed 20 years later. One wonders what happened in the intervening years, though we know that Perkinson had the opportunity to work with Leonard Bernstein, Max Roach, Alvin Ailey, Jerome Robbins, Marvin Gaye, and Harry Belafonte. He also co-founded and conducted the Symphony of the New World. Blue/s Forms for solo violin (1972) is a deep reverie of black experience as seen through the filter of Paganiniesque writing. Sanford Allen plays it with tender feeling. Equally luscious is Lamentations, a black/folk song suite for solo cello, played by Tahirah Whittington.


Just before his death, Perkinson composed the last selection on the disc, Movement for String Trio. It is a profoundly sweet, sad, Barberesque self-requiem for a man who should have been heard, and one hopes will be heard now?though he won?t be here to enjoy the long overdue recognition.


FANFARE: David Wolman

Tracklist 16 tracks

  1. 1 I. Sonata Allegro 03:45
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Sonata Allegro
    Duration
    03:45
    Composer
    Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
    Ensemble
    Chicago Sinfonietta
    Conductor
    Paul Freeman
  2. 2 II. Song Form: Largo 05:08
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Song Form: Largo
    Duration
    05:08
    Composer
    Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
    Ensemble
    Chicago Sinfonietta
    Conductor
    Paul Freeman
  3. 3 III. Rondo: Allegro furioso 06:17
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Rondo: Allegro furioso
    Duration
    06:17
    Composer
    Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
    Ensemble
    Chicago Sinfonietta
    Conductor
    Paul Freeman
  4. 4 Grass 16:08
    Track
    4
    Title
    Grass
    Duration
    16:08
    Composer
    Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
    Performer
    Joseph Joubert
    Ensemble
    Chicago Sinfonietta
    Conductor
    Paul Freeman
  5. 5 I. Allegro 05:57
    Track
    5
    Title
    I. Allegro
    Duration
    05:57
    Composer
    Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
    Ensemble
    New Black Music Repertory Ensemble Quartet
  6. 6 II. quarter note = 54 05:01
    Track
    6
    Title
    II. quarter note = 54
    Duration
    05:01
    Composer
    Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
    Ensemble
    New Black Music Repertory Ensemble Quartet
  7. 7 III. Rondo: Allegro vivace 05:57
    Track
    7
    Title
    III. Rondo: Allegro vivace
    Duration
    05:57
    Composer
    Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
    Ensemble
    New Black Music Repertory Ensemble Quartet
  8. 8 I. Plain Blue/s: quarter note = 88-96 01:46
    Track
    8
    Title
    I. Plain Blue/s: quarter note = 88-96
    Duration
    01:46
    Composer
    Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
    Performer
    Sanford Allen
  9. 9 II. Just Blue/s: Very free 02:50
    Track
    9
    Title
    II. Just Blue/s: Very free
    Duration
    02:50
    Composer
    Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
    Performer
    Sanford Allen
  10. 10 III. Jettin' Blue/s: Fast 02:42
    Track
    10
    Title
    III. Jettin' Blue/s: Fast
    Duration
    02:42
    Composer
    Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
    Performer
    Sanford Allen
  11. 11 I. Fuguing Tune: resolute 04:24
    Track
    11
    Title
    I. Fuguing Tune: resolute
    Duration
    04:24
    Composer
    Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
    Performer
    Tahirah Whittington
  12. 12 II. Song Form: plaintive 02:32
    Track
    12
    Title
    II. Song Form: plaintive
    Duration
    02:32
    Composer
    Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
    Performer
    Tahirah Whittington
  13. 13 III. Calvary Ostinato (quarter note = 80-88) 03:08
    Track
    13
    Title
    III. Calvary Ostinato (quarter note = 80-88)
    Duration
    03:08
    Composer
    Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
    Performer
    Tahirah Whittington
  14. 14 IV. Perpetual Motion (quarter note = 76) 05:26
    Track
    14
    Title
    IV. Perpetual Motion (quarter note = 76)
    Duration
    05:26
    Composer
    Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
    Performer
    Tahirah Whittington
  15. 15 Louisiana Blues Strut (A Cakewalk) 02:49
    Track
    15
    Title
    Louisiana Blues Strut (A Cakewalk)
    Duration
    02:49
    Composer
    Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
    Performer
    Ashley Horne
  16. 16 Movement for String Trio 03:56
    Track
    16
    Title
    Movement for String Trio
    Duration
    03:56
    Composer
    Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson
    Performer
    Sanford Allen, Jesse Levine, Carter Brey