Southland Sketches

Dvořák’s influence on younger Czech composers can hardly be measured, but he also exerted a direct influence on American musicians in the mid 1890s. In 1892 Dvořák arrived in New York City to take charge of the newly-formed National Conservatory of Music. There he provided occasional instruction to Henry “Harry” Burleigh, already a well-respected singer, arranger, and pioneer within the African-American musical community. Burleigh’s gift for merging traditional art song with the spiritual depth and melodic fervor of Negro spirituals made his arrangements recital standards for both black and white vocalists in the 1920s. While a struggling student at the National Conservatory, Burleigh’s powerful baritone voice and constant singing of spirituals caught the attention of Dvořák. Dvořák was actively seeking to explore a new treasury of folk music. The first fruits came in 1893 with the “New World” Symphony and “American” String Quartet, both influenced by spirituals. Such works would have been very different had Burleigh not made such a deep impression on the Czech master. Burleigh’s own compositions, even in the instrumental genres, express a profound debt to spirituals. The suite for violin and piano entitled Southland Sketches (1916) resounds in every bar with the sweet sound of accompanied song. The first two movements proceed at a relaxed tempo and put forth a gentle optimism, which to our ears sounds nostalgic and redolent of a nation in its first youth. The latter movements are more spirited, with occasional flourishes in the violin part as decoration of the vocally-inspired melody. As mentioned, Burleigh’s song arrangements were popular for many years to come, and he did not stray far from that aesthetic—broad lines, rich harmonic support, heartfelt lyricism—in creating this endearing collection of chamber pieces.

(c) Jason Stell