Additional composition teachers include Clare Boge, Hart College, Tom Clarck, Texas Southern University, in courses of study at the University of Michigan division at Interlochen, and Harvey Stokes, Hampton University. Live performance 1 year ago # opera. Composer and educator; Goldsboro Public Schools, Supervisor of Music, 1926-27; Virginia State University, Associate Professor of Music, 1927-72, Professor Emerita, 1972-89; numerous visiting faculty appointments, 1972-89; prolific compositional activity in later life; composed choral work Lord, We Give Thanks to Thee for centennial of Fisk Jubilee Singers, 1971; completed cantata Scenes from the Life of a Martyr on life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 1980; composed trio Soweto, 1987. • Classical Mus…, Kay, Ulysses 1917–1995 [1] Much of her work was inspired by black spirituals and folk music. She attended Fisk University, where she studied piano with Alice M. Grass and first began to compose. Moore traveled to Africa in 1971 and 1972 and was deeply moved by her experiences there. Love, But A Day - Songs And Spirituals Of American Women", Stuart A. ." Moore, the granddaughter of slaves, began studying piano at the age of seven with Lillian Allen Darden. The granddaughter of former slaves, Moore was born in Virginia in 1904 and by age seven was learning to play the piano. [19] On 4 January 1941 Moore gave birth to their daughter, Marie Hardie. Crucifixion Adolphus Hailstork. We’ve put together a list of some choral music created and performed by black composers and artists. [4] In 1975, Moore was labeled music laureate of the state of Virginia, and the National Association of Negro Musicians named her an “outstanding educator”. Performed live May 26, 2018 at Hibernian Hall, Boston as part of Castle of our Skins's "Ain't I a Woman" project. [12], In 1931, during the Harlem Renaissance, Moore received a Master of Arts and professional diploma in music at Columbia University’s Teachers College. [7] Of her childhood, Moore said that “above all else, music reigned.”[8], At age seven, Undine Smith Moore began taking piano lessons under Lillian Allen Darden, who later encouraged her to attend Fisk University, where she studied piano and organ with Alice M. Grass and theory with Sara Leight Laubenstein. Many of her most popular compositions are for chorus, and draw in one way or another upon the settings of spirituals that she had absorbed during her years at Fisk. Find Undine Smith Moore composition information on AllMusic African American heritage into her compositions, and when she moved back to Virginia she began to set down in musical notation some of the unique songs she had heard her mother sing in southside Virginia. Moore began to think about ways of incorporating her. [33] She was given the Virginia Governor’s Award in the Arts in 1985. © 2019 Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. Undine Smith Moore (1905-1989) Born in Jarratt, Virginia, and the granddaughter of slaves, “Undine Smith Moore graduated from Fisk University (1926) with highest honors and received a M.M. Composer, pianist [32] Among her many awards was a Candace Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women in 1984. I Got a Home in-a dat Rock Moses Hogan. (March 11, 2021). Moore learned to read music and even to attempt small composition exercises by the time she was eight or nine. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Undine Smith Moore biography. She received a scholarship from the Julliard School to study music at Fisk University, and later studied composition at the Manhattan School of Music and the Eastman School. Watch Queue Queue Manheim, James "Moore, Undine Smith . BLACK EXCELLENCE SERIES | Composer Undine Smith Moore. In 1904 in the state of Virginia, Undine was born to African American parents James William Smith and Hardie Turnbull Smith, whose own parents had been slaves. Please have a listen. One of her last compositions was a trio for violin, cello, and piano called Soweto (1987); that highly complex work used the12-tone technique to explore the implications of … One of her last compositions was a trio for violin, cello, and piano called Soweto (1987); that highly complex work used the twelve-tone technique to explore the implications of an opening motif based on the rhythm of the name “Soweto.” The work had its roots in Moore’s responses to the South African apartheid system of racial segregation.” I did not choose the word. The late Undine Smith Moore aka the "Dean of Black Women Composers" was a notable and prolific American composer and professor of music in the twentieth century. Daniel, Daniel, Servant of the Lord, for chorus, 1952. [5] She was the granddaughter of slaves. ", Harris, Carl. Manheim, James "Moore, Undine Smith In 1927, Undine Smith Moore joined the faculty of Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute in Petersburg, where she taught theory, piano and organ, and continued to arrange and compose for the college choir. Born in Jarratt, Va. in 1904, Moore moved to Peterbsurg at a young age. Afro-American Suite (flute, cello, piano), 1969. Retrieved March 11, 2021 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/moore-undine-smith. But she also heard the work songs and the spirituals that she would remember for the rest of her life. Her music teacher back in Virginia had been a Fisk graduate, and so Moore immersed herself in the European classics that were the focus of the school’s music curriculum at the time. The text is both a proclamation of faith and an invitation for all to come and see Jesus. Calvert Bean Moore’s early musical life combined formal education with African American musical roots. [9] Moore turned down a scholarship to Petersburg’s Virginia Normal Institute in order to enroll at Fisk, a historically black college. Undine Eliza Anna Smith Moore (25 August 1904 – 6 February 1989), the "Dean of Black Women Composers," was a notable and prolific American composer and professor of music in the twentieth century. Born Undine Smith on August 25, 1904, in Jarratt, Virginia; died on February 6, 1989; daughter of James William Smith, a railroad man, and Hattie (Turnbull) Smith; married James Arthur Moore, an educator; children: Mary, Education: Fisk University, BA and B.Mus., 1926; Columbia University, MA, 1931; further studies at Manhattan College of Music, Julliard School, Eastman College of Music. The work’s text, depicting scenes from the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was written by Moore herself, with interpolations from the Bible and from the works of poets of various different backgrounds. Retirement only increased Moore’s compositional productivity, and she composed prolifically until just before her death. . On this day in 1904, Undine Smith Moore, the “Dean of Black Women Composers,” was born in Jarratt, Virginia! Disturbed by what she saw as a deteriorating knowledge of the history of black music among her students, Moore worked during her last years at Virginia State to establish the Black Music Center, a combination archive, research center, and performance-promotion organization. in 1931, and also studied at the prestigious Juilliard School, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Eastman School of Music. Undine Smith Moore (Arranger) Anton Armstrong (Editor) This collection showcases five of Undine Smith Moore's spirituals edited by Anton Armstrong, who includes an instructional forward written for this newly-engraved edition. Sadie, Stanley, editor, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, Macmillan, 2001. But she also heard the work songs and the spirituals that she would remember for the rest of her life. “I think that black people need to remind themselves of the importance of remembering,” she was quoted as saying on the Black History: Virginia Profiles website. In the early 1950s, having reached an age when many educators are looking forward to retirement, Moore instead resumed her compositional career at full force. Some of them, especially her works for instruments alone, followed European methods, including the extremely intellectually rigorous 12-tone technique to while others turned to African American history in various ways. Her Principal Composition teacher includes Dean of African American Women Composers, Professor Undine Smith Moore of Virginia State University. African American composer, conductor, and music educator Robert Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943) elevated the African American folk s…, William Levi Dawson 1899–1990 [61], Moore was a strong advocate for the promotion of black music and art: in her opinion, art could be used as “a powerful agent for social change.”[62] Moore was careful to point out that because of the social issues surrounding African-Americans, their music and art could be stereotyped:[63], I use the term black music to describe music created mainly by people who call themselves black, and whose compositions in their large or complete body show a frequent, if not preponderant, use of significant elements derived from the Afro-American heritage. https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/moore-undine-smith-1904-1989, "Moore, Undine Smith 1904–1989 Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. One of her last compositions was a trio for violin, cello, and piano called Soweto (1987); that highly complex work used the12-tone technique to explore the implications of an opening motif based on the rhythm of the name “Soweto.” The work had its roots in Moore’s responses to the South African apartheid system of racial segregation. Soweto, for violin, cello, and piano, 1987. https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/moore-undine-smith, Manheim, James "Moore, Undine Smith Contemporary Black Biography. [51], The works of Undine Smith Moore range “from arrangements of spirituals, to solo art songs, instrumental chamber music, and multimovement works for chorus, soloists, and instruments.”[52] Although she composed more than one hundred pieces between 1925 and 1987, only twenty-six were published during her lifetime. This video is unavailable. Looking back at her years at Fisk University, Undine Smith Moore described her early compositions, especially her piano music, as having a general similarity to the music of Leopold Godowsky. Her 16-section choral cantata “Scenes from the Life of a Martyr” (1980), for narrator, chorus, orchestra, and soloists, combined all these influences and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize after its premiere in 1982. Encyclopedia.com. Her studies in New York further developed this European Romantic strain in her work, but she also was touched by the artistic ferment of the Harlem Renaissance, the awakening of African American artistic and intellectual sensibility that flowered in the 1920s. [35] She was buried in the Eastview Cemetery in Petersburg, Virginia. 2021
. ...black music is, in its simplest and broadest terms, simply music written by a black person. ." Undine Smith Moore was born the youngest of three children to James William Smith and Hardie Turnbull Smith. Scenes from the Life of a Martyr (narrator, chorus, soloists, orchestra), 1980. And if … [34] At her funeral, several of her spiritual arrangements were performed. Amanda Kate Weber conducting a piece by Undine Smith Moore in her Masters Recital on March 3, 2013 in Battell Chapel at Yale University. Composer Undine Eliza Anna Smith Moore (25 August 1904 – 6 February 1989), the "Dean of Black Women Composers," was an American composer and professor of music in the twentieth century. Introduction, March, and Allegro, for clarinet, 1958. Composer, conductor, music educator . Moore was originally trained as a classical pianist, but developed a compositional output of mostly vocal music—her preferred genre. ... shallwegather @perfectdaymusicfoundation @northwesternu @bienenschoolnu @northwesternoperatheatre Some tidbits about Undine Smith Moore—- “Her father was a railroad brakeman; her grandparents were slaves. Brought Fame to Tuskegee Choir After graduating from Juilliard, Moore became supervisor of music for the Goldsboro, North Carolina public school system. [56], In 1981, Moore's Pulitzer Prize-nominated oratorio Scenes from the Life of a Martyr was premiered at Carnegie Hall. Undine Eliza Anna Smith Moore (Aug. 25, 1904 – Feb. 6, 1989) was born in Jaratt, Virigina. One of them, 1952’s “Daniel, Daniel, Servant of the Lord,” was based on one of the songs she had transcribed from her mother’s singing. [4], On 6 February 1989, aged 84, Undine Smith Moore suffered a stroke. The word chose me,” she was quoted as saying in the International Dictionary of Black Composers. [58] Moore had planned the piece for at least five years, and considered it her “most significant work.”[40]. I thought them so beautiful that I wanted to have them experienced in a variety of ways -- by concert choirs, soloists, and by instrumental groups.[43]. Jaratt had a large African-American population and Moore would later recall memories of the community singing and praying together at the Morningstar Baptist Church. “The Black Composer Speaks: An Interview with Undine Smith Moore.”, Harris, Carl, and Undine Smith Moore. Watch Queue Queue. Winning a scholarship to Fisk University seemed to seal Moore’s choice of a music as her life’s work, for the musical traditions at that historically black institution ran deep. degree at Columbia University. Daniel, Daniel, Servant Of The Lord (as Undine Smith Moore) Peoria Area Civic Chorale - 25th Anniversary Commemorative Recordings (Sing We Now Of Christmas & The Sounds Of Glory: Folk Songs, Spirituals And Hymns) (2xCD, Comp) Not On Label: none: US: 2007 [27] Moore taught various musicians including Camilla Williams, Leon Thompson, Billy Taylor, Phil Medley, and Robert Fryson.