CUUC Music: Sun Feb 7

In honor of CUUC’s rescheduled Black Lives Matter service, Sunday morning music includes works by composers of African descent and a composition by a white European influenced by African-American idioms.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) was an English-born composer of Creole heritage. His 24 Negro Melodies, the source for the first two works in the Prelude, are his arrangements of traditional tunes from Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States. His style is warmly romantic and evocative a virtuosic tradition of piano performance.

Scott Joplin’s numerous rags for solo piano need little introduction; they are among the classics of American music. “The Entertainer”, featured in “The Sting” from the early 1970’s, is widely credited with triggering a resurgence of interest in this popular musical form.

French composer Claude Debussy was of course Caucasian, but some of his output reflects a fascination with other cultures and places. His beloved “Golliwogg’s Cakewalk” is an homage to American Vaudeville, and draws upon traditional African-American musical styles. The inclusion this work illustrates the universal relevance of cultural diversity.  

Read on for programming details.

Prelude: Adam Kent, piano
Bamboula                       

West Indian, arr. by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Take Nabandji           

South East African, arr. by Coleridge-Taylor

The Easy Winners and Maple Leaf Rag

                                    Scott Joplin           

Opening Music:
Golliwogg’s Cakewalk from Children’s Corner

                                    Claude Debussy

Offertory:
The Entertainer

                                    Joplin