Black Music in the Harlem Renaissance: A Collection of Essays

By the mid-1920s, the Harlem Renaissance was underway. As an effort to secure economic, social and cultural equality with white citizens, the Renaissance years were a proving period for black composers and performers. This book explores black music in the United States and England during the 1920s and its relationship to other arts of the time. It seeks to revise previous assumptions about music during this era. The book features essays on various subjects including musical theatre, Duke Ellington, black music and musicians in England, concert singers and the interrelationships between painters and music. In addition, the book includes a music bibliography of works composed during the period.