JAVS Fall 2020

Watt, Robert L. The Black Horn: The story of classical French hornist Robert Lee Watt . New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.

9 Readers might wonder why Brown is included in this article if he is so rarely mentioned in source material. The lack of research on African-American classical music and musicians creates a negative feedback loop in which research may not be conducted or published because so little previous background research is available. The only solution for this issue is to begin to build a record of research and publication on under explored topics and individuals such as Brown, upon which future researchers can draw. 10 In an interview with Anne Lundy in 1984, DeCoteau stated that he was born in 1937. However, numerous sources state that he died at the age of 70 in 1999, which would indicate that he was born in 1929. Because of the uncertainty, his dates have been omitted here. 11 Personal email from Simon. 12 Lundy, 217.

Notes 1 “Black Musicians Lists, 26 Jun 1958–23 Oct 1969.” Folder 011-03-36, Executive Records, New York Philharmonic Leon Levy Digital Archives. Page 9. https://archives.nyphil.org/index.php/artifact/8a4a7e81 11ab-4f1b-a9d2-710bf5006ea1-0.1 2 William Banfield, Musical Landscapes in Color: Conversations with Black American Composers (Scarecrow Press: 2003), 241–242. 3 S. Tarr, “Photograph of Hall Johnson and the Negro String Quartet,” ca. 1923, 5 x 7 in, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5b22b0913 83f8-41a9-b5ff-957a08c9c604. 4 Olin Downes, “Roland Hayes Sings,” New York Times , November 28, 1925. 5 U.S. Congress, Committee on Education and Labor, 630 – 631. 6 The Urban League cites AFM Local 802 members Harry Kantor and Joe Campiglia as the sources for these statistics. 7 Christopher Jenkins, “Signifyin(g) within African American Classical Music: Linking Gates, Hip‐Hop, and Perkinson,” Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 77, no. 4 (Fall 2019): 391–400. 8 The reviewer notes that Clarke premiered a work by a William Fisher for solo viola, but the origin of this work is difficult to authenticate. It is possible this reviewer misspelled the name of the African-American avant-garde composer William S. Fischer. A more recent article in JAVS volume 21 number 1 made note of a 1968 recording of a chamber work by Fischer on which Clarke performed, and their musical connection increases this likelihood of this possibility. However, a work for solo viola by Fischer, which would be one of only a handful of such works by African-American composers, has not been identified.

THE AMERICAN VIOLA SOCIETY: A HISTORY AND REFERENCE SECOND EDITION

By Dwight R. Pounds

$24 Spiral Bound $28 Hard Cover (recommended for library use)

Dwight R. Pounds 651 Covington Grove Blvd. Bowling Green, KY 42104-6601 dwight.pounds@insightbb.com

Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 36, No. 2, Fall 2020

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