Black Notes in Classical Music

 Tomoko appreciates the multicultural aspects of classical music. Among those composers who are notable but sometimes not as well known are Black composers. Here are five notable ones.

Known as the Black Mozart, Creole Joseph Bologne was born on Christmas Day, 1745, in Guadeloupe, and was schooled in France. Bologne was first an expert fencer, but always had a love of music. He performed as an orchestra violinist, and became its concert master. Joseph wrote several sonatas, including for the forte-piano. He chiefly wrote operas and symphonies. Bologne, who lived next to Mozart for a while, is considered the first-known classical composer of African heritage.

George Bridgetower is most known for his violin virtuosity, and as such, the original dedicatee of Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata. He was born on October 11, 1778 in Poland of a West Indian father and Polish mother. He moved early to London, and performed publicly as a teen in England and Paris. Most of his own compositions were piano pieces, but many were lost over the years.

Another African British composer was Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, called the African Mahler. Born on August 15, 1875, Samuel studied at the Royal College of Music in London, and was a professor at the Crystal Palace School of Music. Many of his works were choral pieces, the best known one was The Song of Hiawatha. Samuel drew upon traditional African music in his compositions. He also wrote poetry, which he would sometimes set to music.

Florence Price is known as the first African American woman recognized as a symphonic composer. She also wrote for the piano – among her over 300 compositions. She was born in Arkansas on April 9, 1887. She performed publicly on the piano at age four, and had her first composition published at age eleven. Florence’s mother was a music teacher, and Florence attended the New England Conservatory of Music where she earned an artist diploma in organ and a teaching certificate. Florence played an importance role in the Chicago Black Renaissance, making her name first with her piano work Negro Fantasy. She wrote prize-winning piano sonatas and symphonies, and arranged spirituals, which Marian Anderson regularly performed.

George Walker was first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music – for his piece Lilacs. Born on June 27, 1922, he began playing the piano at age five. He earned his doctorate at the Eastman School of Music and taught at Rutgers University. He published more than ninety works, including five sonatas for piano, duet sonatas for piano and another instrument, as well as choral works and songs.

These accomplished composers of African descent certainly should be noted and listened to.

Relating to Bartok

 

When I met Tomoko in 1983, the first question she asked me was: “Who is your favorite composer?” I answered “Béla Bartók.” Tomoko was impressed because he is usually not mentioned among the Big Bs (Bach, Beethoven and Brahms). Bartók has a way to connecting people, and there are many pieces of evidence that link Tomoko and her family to him.

One of the first connections between Bartók and Tomoko was Bartók’s country of birth: Hungary. Tomoko’s husband Desi was a Hungarian refugee. Like Desi, Bartók had to leave his country; when his father died, Bartók (age seven) and his sister were taken by mother first to the Ukraine and then to Slovakia. Indeed, when World War II started, Bartók immigrated to America; Desi immigrated because of the Hungarian Revolution. Tomoko also immigrated to the US as an adult.

Like Tomoko, Bartók started piano lessons as a young boy. Unlike Tomoko, Bartók wrote his first piano composition at age nine, and performed at his first public piano recital at age 11.

Also like Tomoko, Bartók was influenced by the music of Richard Strauss, Debussy, and Brahms.

Both Tomoko and Bartók appreciate folk music. Interestingly, Bartók started his interest in folk music when he heard an nanny singing folk songs to the little children she took care of. Tomoko routinely sang Japanese nursery songs to her daughter Beata when she was a baby, and how both of them sing those same traditional songs to Beata’s son Kai.

Both Tomoko and Bartók are nature lovers. Nature inspired Bartók in his Night music, which evoked sounds of nature. Another example is his Out of Doors sonata.

Moreover, both Bartók and Tomoko recorded their performances, and both were music teachers. Among Tomoko’s CD recording are pieces by Bartók, making a full circle in their relationship.

 

Lineages of Piano Composer/Teachers and Tomoko

 As a piano student, Tomoko took courses in composition, and she has great sensitivity to a composer’s nuanced musical approach and style. Tomoko also knows that several of her favorite piano composers were also piano teachers. Here is a sampling, which also show the lineage and impact of piano teachers.

The late 18^th century pianist Muzio Clementi was known for his piano sonatas and sonatinas. He also taught piano for over twenty year, and passed on his technical legato style to his students. One of those students was the German Ludwig Berger, who even went to Clementi to Russia, and stayed eight years.

When Berger returned to Germany, he transitioned from performing to composing (a concerto, sonatas, and studies) and teaching. His most famous student was Chopin.

Even though Chopin was one of the greatest piano composers even, he did not like to perform in public; he got stage fright and didn’t like being watched. He actually preferred teaching piano, and his etudes were used in such sessions. He wrote many études, which he used in lessons with his students. He mainly taught women who were serious about piano playing, although none performed professionally. One of his favorite students was Adolphe Gutman, who performed with Chopin, and later composed a set of études that were dedicated to Chopin.

Another lineage of piano composers/teachers starts with Christian Gottlob Neefe: a German 18^th century composer and conductor. He started composes at age 12, creaying mainly operas, although he also composed piano pieces. He was also Ludwig van Beethoven’s main piano teacher, and helped Beethoven compose his first works, which were piano pieces.

Besides his composing and public performing, Beethoven taught piano to increase the family’s income. One of his students was Austrian Carl Czerny, who impressed Beethoven with his performance at age 10. On his part, Czerny was impressed with Beethoven technical skill and ability to improvise.

Clementi also taught Czerny, who performed professionally and wrote more than a thousand compositions. Many of his piano pieces were études and piano solo exercises, which he used in teaching the piano. Indeed, Czerny began teaching piano at age fifteen.  His most famous student was Franz Liszt, who dedicated one of his own études to Czerny. Liszt also complemented his performing and composing with teaching, although he mainly taught masterclasses for groups of advanced piano students; he emphasized interpretation in those classes.  

Tomoko’s own students have gone on to perform professionally, compose, and teach piano. So she also has a legacy to be proud of.

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Remembering Hermann LeRoux

As a long-time piano teacher at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Tomoko has connected with many talented musicians. One of them that she remembers fondly is baritone Hermann LeRoux.

Among other memories, Tomoko recalls his connections with Japanese students and the Japanese consulate. “He was easy to get along with because he was born outside the U.S.” 

Hermann LeRoux was Dutch, born in Pretoria, South Africa in 1945. He studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, taught voice, and served as the chair of the music department between 1991 and 1997. He performed professionally, such as the baritone in Robert Moran’s work Holderlin, premiered at the Conservatory in 1972. LeRoux also wrote compositions, including “Reflections from Childhood in South Africa”, which he sang – and for which he helped produce as a CD in 1997 titled The Musician’s Gallery Concert. 

LeRoux also directed the X-perimental Chorus, a 15-member music theater group in the Bay Area. Along with performing choral pieces written by composers from around the world, the group presented theater pieces and electronic music. They used improvisation, special effects and costuming to bring wit and humor.

LeRoux has a strong legacy in the form of his students’ success. Two of his students, Christine Abraham and Eun-Mee Ko, later joined the Conservaatory’s voice faculty. Another one of his students, Diego Garcia, composes music and oversees all musical expression at the Napa Valley Center for Spiritual Living. George Hernandez, who studied under LeRoux in the late 1980s, has sung with the San Francisco Opera since 1990, now teaches voice, conducts choruses, and composes. 

In 2003 The Conservatory honored him at his retirement celebration in August 2007. He now lives in Grants Pass, Oregon.

Lizst and his legacy

One of Tomoko’s favorite piano composers is Lizst.  His works enable the performer to showcase technical virtuosity and strong emotional interpretation.

Lizst’s life is certainly reflective in his writing. 

At age seven Lizst started piano lessons from his father, started composing at age eight, and started public performances at age nine. Lizst was a wildly popular performer because of his technical brilliance and intense delivery, which his compositions could showcase. His enthralled audiences led to Lizstomania – and enough income that he could gave away much of his profits to charity. 

Thus, because Lizst was first a performer, his compositions reflect natural hand motions, and are more natural to play. That characteristic enabled Lizst to create works that could maximize kinesthetic ability. Additionally, Lizst was inspired by the violinist Paganin’s technique, and wanted to be as excellent as him, so much so that he wrote a series of etudes based on Paganini’s own violin’s technically challenging compositions. As a result, his compositions are often used by piano teachers to improve students’ technical skills. In fact, Tomoko remarks: “Sometimes a child – or the parent – wants to choose a masterful piece of music, such as a Liszt étude. They want the status of playing such a composition, but it might not be appropriatea at their stage of development. “Their motivation may be to show off,” says Tomoko, “but they will be miserable.” Instead, Tomoko asks the student to try it for themselves. “Then they recognize for themselves what is really involved.” If they really want to put in the effort, Tomoko tells them, “I will prepare this piece for you.” Tomoko explains each part, and then they agree on doing the hard work together. 

Tomoko also likes Lizst for his philosophy and emotional power. Tomoko relates to his spiritual side. “Listen to Liszt’s compositions. His philosophy is so beautiful. He was a very religious man.” While Lizst is not known for religious compositions, he contemplated joining the Catholic clergy in his twenties (after a romantic break-up) and  in late life did join a monastery. 

Lizst’s compositions also capture human emotional life: adapting folk dances and translating human expression, including violence, into  his music. Tomoko asserts: “Lizst is great for pianists in their twenties because they don’t have to think so much as express lots of action.”

Tomoko herself has masterfully performed Lizst’s works over the years. In her 1964 television interview with UCLA Opera Theater director Herbert Jan Popper, Tomoko She Hungarian Rhapsody A minor #11 by Liszt on the show. Almost fifty years later, in 2012, on the show “The Piano Matters with David Dubal,” Tomoko played Liszt’s "Au Lac de Wallenstadt." 

Just as Lizst was inspired by his experiences, Tomoko and her students find inspiration in Lizst for their own lives.

Chopin

One of Tomoko's favorite composers and pianists is Chopin.

She likes to listen to his music because of its sensitive harmony. Tomoko considers Chopin to be very quiet sometimes. "He hardly touched the keyboard, but he was a good pianist." The fact that Chopin was a performer before he became a composer informed his writing. She also appreciates how Chopin incorporated folk music motifs. "The communal spirit of dance responds to the spirit of the music." She explains, "Music and dance are natural parts of human community celebrations such as weddings.” Tomoko recommends Chopin Opus 27 #2 as one of the best pieces for weddings.

Even starting out as a young piano student, Tomoko wanted to play Chopin, her her teacher said to her: "You are too young for Chopin; you have no experience.” Her teacher was referring to the emotional sophistication of Chopin, which requires the performer's own emotional experience to draw upon when interpreting the music. On the other hand, when Tomoko was asked why she assigned one of Chopin's difficult sonatas to a student of hers, she replied, "My student is so capable." She asserts: "Students need to be curious and courageous. How much they understand, we don’t know, but it’s better than to protect the student. They can always return to the piece later on, and bring in more interpretation based on their own lives. The technique is always there.”


In mentioning Chopin's emotional aspect, Tomoko reminds us that many compositions are written to express emotions, and are often written for someone special. "Chopin dedicated most of his pieces to someone." She explains further: “After you enjoy Chopin’s etude 25 #1 melody, you will enjoy the movie about him more. When you see the countess in the movie, well-dressed and peaceful, she will remind you of the etude, which he had dedicated to her."

Tomoko explored the life of Chopin directly. For instance, in the Chopin Museum, she played his raindrop Majorca prelude on their piano. Tomoko remembers how the place was positioned on the land; when she saw a movie about Chopin, it included an ocean in the background; “That wasn’t real,” she asserts. Next door to his place was a monastery, instead, because of his asthma, which was not mentioned in the film. But you can still enjoy the music.”

How does Chopin affect Tomoko?  She recalls, "After a doctors' conference in Cambridge, while they were cleaning up, I were downstairs and played Chopin. One of my husband's colleagues said: 'I didn’t know you played the piano." She muses, "People love music." For her part, Tomoko says, "Sometimes I feel so much pressure, but I have Chopin."

Internal and External Paradoxes about Piano Composers

When playing a composition on the piano, as with any instruments, the performer is “channeling” the composer.  As she has played so many pieces of so many composers, Tomoko has many insights about those musical creators and these processes.

Piano composers are a paradox. Tomoko says, “They have a special power. I feel sorry for them because they can’t explain how they create, but they need to be very precise about each note, timing and expression.” Tomoko thinks that great composers have internalized their composition process; “it general comes easily and natural.” She points out, though, “Their planning is well done.” 

Somehow the composer has to figure out how to externalize the music in his head, and use musical notation to accurately communicate it to others.   In turn, the pianist needs toward internalize the musical score, and then externalize it with body action on the piano, incorporating the head and heart.

Tomoko contends that each composer is unique. Furthermore, she says, “The never change their philosophy.”  Even when the composer explores different musical styles, he is still the same person. Therefore, part of a performer’s skill set is the ability to identify a composer when hearing his music. “Do you know who wrote that piece?” Tomoko will ask her students. She thinks that knowing about the composer can help the pianist interpret a piano piece more fully.

She cites Mozart as an example of a prolific and very sophisticated composer.  “Mozart’s sounds were not of this world. His life was all dreams, and he was very holy. He had a real connection between this life and the next life, perhaps because his mother passed away while he was in Paris.” Tomoko points out a paradox, “However, Mozart was also a super mathematician, and his composition papers sometimes had algebra notes on them.  Mozart also used musical numerology, weaving masonic numerical symbols in his open The Magic Flute, such as the number three (such as three-part harmony, characters in sets of three, and  key E flat major, which has three flats.”

At the same time, the same pianist interacts differently throughout life to Mozart. As a teacher, Tomoko asserts, “Mozart is easy for children but hard for adults; just try his variations.” Tomoko says that many of her students want to play Mozart. She responds to them, “If you want to play him, you have to go through Stravinsky, Alban Berg, and other contemporary composers. Mozart is complicated to learn.” 

As for Tomoko herself? “I have a natural feeling about Mozart.” She says, “I could play a piece of his twenty times, and not tire of it.”

The Musical Soul of Europe

Tomoko has always had an eye on European music, which is not surprising. The Germans were particularly prominent in the early 20^th century, several of whom resided in Japan and lectured at the Tokyo School of Music. On their part, some Japanese composers were intrigued by Western art music, and incorporated those tonalities into their pieces.

Europe has always been part of Tomoko's musical soul. Even before staring school, classical European music was part of early family experience as her mother sang hymns, her father played violin, and they listened to classics on the radio.

As part of her schooling Tomoko remembered the importance of children’s songs. In the late 19^th century, the Japanese Ministry of Education reformed  music education by developing a music textbook that included Europe and American hymns and folk songs set to Japanese lyrics. Tomoko and her peers regularly sang these songs, which taught moral behavior and national pride.

During the war, Japan was largely isolated from the Western musical world, but the reputation of European music endured. Tomoko remembered attending a concert of Bohemian pianist Rudolph Serkin the early 1950s; “It was the most gorgeous feeling in the world.” Tomoko yearned to enter that society.

It wasn’t until 1967, though, that she had that opportunity. Her first flight to Europe was made possible through support of friends associated with the Conservatory of San Francisco. Tomoko took a chartered plan from Oakland to Frankfurt, where she performed and networked with musical illuminaries. Later that year she participated in the Long-Thibaud International Piano Competition and Paris, and in the following year she performed at the Queen Elizabeth International Musical Competition in Brussels.

Even after Tomoko curtailed competing internationally, she touristed in Europe, taking advantage of the long legacy of music. She visited Beethoven’s Viennese home, played an antique harpsichord in a Medici house, and perform Chopin’s Raindrops Prelude in Majorca in the museum dedicated to him.

Tomoko’s personal life also incorporated Europe. In Salzburg Tomoko married her husband, Desy Handra, who was an Hungarian medical doctor. And it was in Europe twenty years later that Tomoko helped her daughter navigate the international competitive skating scene.

Europe has served as a cultural gateway to music for Tomoko, which she passes onto her students, some of whom are Europeans themselves.