Robert Nathaniel Dett
Encyclopedia
Robert Nathaniel Dett often known as R. Nathaniel Dett, was a composer in the United States
and Canada
. During his lifetime he was one of the most successful black composers, known for his use of folk songs and spirituals
for choral and piano compositions in the romantic
style.
He was among the first African American
composers during the early years of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
. His works often appeared among the programs of William Marion Cook's New York syncopated Orchestra. Dett himself performed at Carnegie Hall
and at the Boston Symphony Hall as a pianist and choir director.
) where he studied piano at an early age showing initial interest at age three and formal piano lessons at age five. He was the son of Charlotte Washington Dett and Robert T. Dett; his mother was a native of Drummondville while his father was from the United States. As a child, his mother encouraged him to memorize passages of Shakespeare
, Longfellow
and Tennyson. In 1893, the family moved to Niagara Falls, New York
. At about age fourteen, he had played piano for his local church. He continued his Lockport, New York
studies at the Oliver Willis Halstead Conservatory of Music from 1901 to 1903.
He then continued his piano studies at the Lockport Conservatory, matriculating to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music
. It was at Oberlin when he was first introduced to the idea of using spirituals in classical style music; he was exposed to the music of Antonín Dvořák
which was immediately reminiscent of the spirituals he had heard from his grandmother. He was the first black student to complete the five-year course at Oberlin. He then toured as a concert pianist and during this period he wrote only rudimentary piano compositions. He then came under the influence of E. Azalia Hackley, soprano
, who inspired his interest in black American folk music
.
In 1908, he completed his degree, a Bachelor of Music
with a major in composition and piano. Within that year, he became a professor at Tennessee's Lane College
followed by a tenure at the Lincoln Institute
in Jefferson City, Missouri
. During this period, he wrote practical choral and piano pieces suitable for his students. The 1913 piece In the Bottoms contains one of his most played movements, Dance Juba. Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler
performed the work at the Chicago Music Hall with great success. Soon after this he became the first black director of music at the Hampton Institute in Virginia where he maintained the position from 1913 to 1932. During this near twenty-year period, he founded the Hampton Choral Union, Musical Arts Society, Hampton Institute Choir and School of Music. He encouraged his Hampton student, soprano Dorothy Maynor
, to pursue a career as a concert artist; she followed his advice to become one of the leading concert artists in the nation.
His position as a major pianist-composer was earned in 1914. His piece Magnolia
was performed at the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Club. On June 3 of that year he performed Magnolia and In the Bottoms. The Chicago Evening Post reported that among the works on the "All Colored" program, his works were the most innovative and complimented the high level of his pianistic skill. On December 27, 1916, he married Helen Elise Smith— the first graduate of the Institute of Musical Art, now The Juilliard School of performing arts. In 1918, Dett wrote of his compositional goals:
Throughout his lifetime, Dett continued to study. Each summer, he attended major national institutions. From 1920 to 1921, he attended Harvard University
where he studied with Arthur Foote
winning two prizes. Don't Be Weary Traveler, a choral composition, won the Francis Boott
Award while his essay "The Emancipation of Negro Music" won the Bowdoin Prize
. His interest in composition continued to reflect the demands of teaching. Percy Grainger
recorded the Juba from In the Bottoms during this period at Harvard. He composed collections of spirituals which he had arranged including Religious Folksongs of the Negro (1927) and The Dett Collections of Negro Spirituals (1936). Dett received a Holstein prize for his contributions as a composer.
From 1924 to 1926, Dett served as the president of The National Association of Negro Musicians. Founded in Chicago in 1919, the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc. is the country’s oldest organization dedicated to the preservation, encouragement and advocacy of all genres of the music of African Americans.
In 1929, he traveled to France to study at the Fontainebleau school of music with Nadia Boulanger
and then he earned a Masters of Music degree at the Eastman School of Music
in 1932. In 1933 after resigning from the Hampton Institute, he served as the choral conductor for Stromberg-Carlson's NBC radio broadcasts. One of his most praised choral works was then written in 1937, the oratorio The Ordering of Moses. It was conducted by Eugene Goosens on May 7, 1937 with a chorus of 350 and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at the Cincinnati May Music Festival. Dett was Visiting Director of Music at Bennett College
in Greensboro, North Carolina began in 1937 and continued to 1942. With this chorus, he toured across Canada and the United States as well as broadcasting on CBS.
Dett joined the United Service Organization as a choral advisor to contribute to the war efforts. Traveling with this chorus, he died of a heart attack on October 2, 1943 survived by his wife as well as his two daughters. He was buried in the town of his birth at Niagara Falls, Ontario.
The Chapel of the British Methodist Episcopal Church
in Niagara Falls, Ontario was named in honour of Robert Nathaniel Dett, who, from 1898 to 1903, was the Church organist. The church was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2001.
bears his name and performs his music as well as other composers of African descent. The chorale is one of many that has recorded his music.
Late in his career, his style was removed from his earlier neo-romantic works as he adopted more contemporary idioms. In this later period, he wrote piano suites such as American Ordering of Moses (1937), Tropic Winter (1938), and Eight Bible Vignettes (1941–1943)—his final piano suite.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. During his lifetime he was one of the most successful black composers, known for his use of folk songs and spirituals
Spiritual (music)
Spirituals are religious songs which were created by enslaved African people in America.-Terminology and origin:...
for choral and piano compositions in the romantic
Romantic music
Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
style.
He was among the first African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
composers during the early years of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization that protects its members' musical copyrights by monitoring public performances of their music, whether via a broadcast or live performance, and compensating them...
. His works often appeared among the programs of William Marion Cook's New York syncopated Orchestra. Dett himself performed at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
and at the Boston Symphony Hall as a pianist and choir director.
Biography
Dett was born in Drummondville, Ontario (now part of Niagara Falls, OntarioNiagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls is a Canadian city on the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. The municipality was incorporated on June 12, 1903...
) where he studied piano at an early age showing initial interest at age three and formal piano lessons at age five. He was the son of Charlotte Washington Dett and Robert T. Dett; his mother was a native of Drummondville while his father was from the United States. As a child, his mother encouraged him to memorize passages of Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
and Tennyson. In 1893, the family moved to Niagara Falls, New York
Niagara Falls, New York
Niagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 50,193, down from the 55,593 recorded in the 2000 census. It is across the Niagara River from Niagara Falls, Ontario , both named after the famed Niagara Falls which they...
. At about age fourteen, he had played piano for his local church. He continued his Lockport, New York
Lockport (city), New York
Lockport is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 21,165 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from a set of Erie canal locks within the city. Lockport is the county seat of Niagara County and is surrounded by the town of Lockport...
studies at the Oliver Willis Halstead Conservatory of Music from 1901 to 1903.
He then continued his piano studies at the Lockport Conservatory, matriculating to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music
Oberlin Conservatory of Music
The Oberlin Conservatory of Music, located on the campus of Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, was founded in 1865 and is the oldest continuously operating conservatory in the United States. Students of Oberlin Conservatory enter a very broad network within the music world, as the school's alumni...
. It was at Oberlin when he was first introduced to the idea of using spirituals in classical style music; he was exposed to the music of Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
which was immediately reminiscent of the spirituals he had heard from his grandmother. He was the first black student to complete the five-year course at Oberlin. He then toured as a concert pianist and during this period he wrote only rudimentary piano compositions. He then came under the influence of E. Azalia Hackley, soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
, who inspired his interest in black American folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
.
In 1908, he completed his degree, a Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree; the majority of work consists of prescribed music courses and study in applied music, usually requiring a...
with a major in composition and piano. Within that year, he became a professor at Tennessee's Lane College
Lane College
-Namesake:SS Lane Victory, a World War II Victory Ship, and one of the few such ships surviving, was named for Lane College. It is now docked in San Pedro, California . It is now open as a museum.-External links:*...
followed by a tenure at the Lincoln Institute
Lincoln University (Missouri)
Lincoln University, a historically black college, is located in Jefferson City, Missouri. In 2007, according to U.S. News and World Report, Lincoln University was ranked #3 for economic diversity, #5 for campus ethnic diversity, and #9 for most international students among master's level...
in Jefferson City, Missouri
Jefferson City, Missouri
Jefferson City is the capital of the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Cole County. Located in Callaway and Cole counties, it is the principal city of the Jefferson City metropolitan area, which encompasses the entirety of both counties. As of the 2010 census, the population was 43,079...
. During this period, he wrote practical choral and piano pieces suitable for his students. The 1913 piece In the Bottoms contains one of his most played movements, Dance Juba. Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler
Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler
Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler was an Austrian-born U.S. pianist.- Biography :Zeisler was born Fannie Blumenfeld on July 16, 1863, in Bielitz, Austrian Silesia. She emigrated to the United States with her family at the age of 4 in 1867. The family settled in Chicago, Illinois where they later changed...
performed the work at the Chicago Music Hall with great success. Soon after this he became the first black director of music at the Hampton Institute in Virginia where he maintained the position from 1913 to 1932. During this near twenty-year period, he founded the Hampton Choral Union, Musical Arts Society, Hampton Institute Choir and School of Music. He encouraged his Hampton student, soprano Dorothy Maynor
Dorothy Maynor
Dorothy Maynor was an American soprano, concert singer, and the founder of the Harlem School of the Arts.-Early life:...
, to pursue a career as a concert artist; she followed his advice to become one of the leading concert artists in the nation.
 |
His position as a major pianist-composer was earned in 1914. His piece Magnolia
Magnolia
Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol....
was performed at the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was an English composer who achieved such success that he was once called the "African Mahler".-Early life and education:...
Club. On June 3 of that year he performed Magnolia and In the Bottoms. The Chicago Evening Post reported that among the works on the "All Colored" program, his works were the most innovative and complimented the high level of his pianistic skill. On December 27, 1916, he married Helen Elise Smith— the first graduate of the Institute of Musical Art, now The Juilliard School of performing arts. In 1918, Dett wrote of his compositional goals:
We have this wonderful store of folk music—the melodies of an enslaved people ... But this store will be of no value unless we utilize it, unless we treat it in such manner that it can be presented in choral form, in lyric and operatic works, in concertos and suites and salon music—unless our musical architects take the rough timber of Negro themes and fashion from it music which will prove that we, too, have national feelings and characteristics, as have the European peoples whose forms we have zealously followed for so long. (Southern 280)
Throughout his lifetime, Dett continued to study. Each summer, he attended major national institutions. From 1920 to 1921, he attended Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
where he studied with Arthur Foote
Arthur Foote
Arthur William Foote was an American classical composer, and a member of the "Boston Six." The other five were George Whitefield Chadwick, Amy Beach, Edward MacDowell, John Knowles Paine, and Horatio Parker.The modern tendency is to view Foote’s music as “Romantic” and “European” in light of the...
winning two prizes. Don't Be Weary Traveler, a choral composition, won the Francis Boott
Francis Boott (composer)
Francis Boott was an American classical music composer of art songs and works for chorus.-Biography:...
Award while his essay "The Emancipation of Negro Music" won the Bowdoin Prize
Bowdoin prize
The Bowdoin Prize is a prestigious award given annually to Harvard University undergraduate and graduate students. It is considered among the highest academic commendations the University can bestow upon a student...
. His interest in composition continued to reflect the demands of teaching. Percy Grainger
Percy Grainger
George Percy Aldridge Grainger , known as Percy Grainger, was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist. In the course of a long and innovative career he played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. He also made many...
recorded the Juba from In the Bottoms during this period at Harvard. He composed collections of spirituals which he had arranged including Religious Folksongs of the Negro (1927) and The Dett Collections of Negro Spirituals (1936). Dett received a Holstein prize for his contributions as a composer.
From 1924 to 1926, Dett served as the president of The National Association of Negro Musicians. Founded in Chicago in 1919, the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc. is the country’s oldest organization dedicated to the preservation, encouragement and advocacy of all genres of the music of African Americans.
In 1929, he traveled to France to study at the Fontainebleau school of music with Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...
and then he earned a Masters of Music degree at the Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
in 1932. In 1933 after resigning from the Hampton Institute, he served as the choral conductor for Stromberg-Carlson's NBC radio broadcasts. One of his most praised choral works was then written in 1937, the oratorio The Ordering of Moses. It was conducted by Eugene Goosens on May 7, 1937 with a chorus of 350 and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at the Cincinnati May Music Festival. Dett was Visiting Director of Music at Bennett College
Bennett College
Bennett College is a four-year liberal arts women's college in Greensboro, North Carolina. Founded in 1873, this historically black institution began as a normal school to provide education to newly emancipated slaves. It became a women's college in 1926 and currently serves roughly 780...
in Greensboro, North Carolina began in 1937 and continued to 1942. With this chorus, he toured across Canada and the United States as well as broadcasting on CBS.
Dett joined the United Service Organization as a choral advisor to contribute to the war efforts. Traveling with this chorus, he died of a heart attack on October 2, 1943 survived by his wife as well as his two daughters. He was buried in the town of his birth at Niagara Falls, Ontario.
The Chapel of the British Methodist Episcopal Church
British Methodist Episcopal Church
The British Methodist Episcopal Church is a Protestant church in Canada that has its roots in the African Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States....
in Niagara Falls, Ontario was named in honour of Robert Nathaniel Dett, who, from 1898 to 1903, was the Church organist. The church was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2001.
Legacy
Dett is remembered most for his work in combining the music of the European Romantics with the American spiritual. The music of Robert Nathaniel Dett is still performed today. Canada's Nathaniel Dett ChoraleNathaniel Dett Chorale
The Nathaniel Dett Chorale is a Canadian choral group that specializes in Afrocentric music of all styles including classical, spiritual, gospel, jazz, folk and blues. Brainerd Blyden-Taylor formed the choral group in 1998....
bears his name and performs his music as well as other composers of African descent. The chorale is one of many that has recorded his music.
Late in his career, his style was removed from his earlier neo-romantic works as he adopted more contemporary idioms. In this later period, he wrote piano suites such as American Ordering of Moses (1937), Tropic Winter (1938), and Eight Bible Vignettes (1941–1943)—his final piano suite.
- Magnolia (1912)
- In The BottomsIn The BottomsIn The Bottoms is a suite for piano by Robert Nathaniel Dett in five movements, with the following titles:1. Prelude 2. His Song3. Honey 4. Barcarolle 5. Dance ....
(1913), a "characteristic suite" of five movementsMovement (music)A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession... - Music in the Mine (1916), a choral work
- Eight Bible Vignettes
- The Chariot Jubilee (1921), for tenor, chorus, and orchestra.
- Enchantment (1922)
- The Cinnamon Grove (1928)
See also
- Music of CanadaMusic of CanadaThe music of Canada has influences that have shaped the country. Aboriginals, the British, and the French have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada. The music has subsequently been heavily influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between...
- Nathaniel Dett ChoraleNathaniel Dett ChoraleThe Nathaniel Dett Chorale is a Canadian choral group that specializes in Afrocentric music of all styles including classical, spiritual, gospel, jazz, folk and blues. Brainerd Blyden-Taylor formed the choral group in 1998....
- Zenobia Powell PerryZenobia Powell PerryZenobia Powell Perry was an American composer born in Boley, Oklahoma who spent much of her life in Dayton, Ohio. She attended and taught in a number of historically black colleges and universities. -Early life and education:...
, one of his students - List of Canadian composers