After she finished her first year at Fisk, Moore’s father gave her a Steinway grand piano as a gift, and for a time she considered trying to become a concert pianist. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. Born in Jarratt, Virginia the granddaughter of slaves, she began to study piano at age seven. She was the granddaughter of slaves. As with her music, Moore worked toward a broad-based approach that would touch both upon the efforts of African Americans in the classical field and upon, as she told Creative Black Artists, the “true creative genius of the black people in the ditches and the sawmills.” She retired from Virginia State in 1972 and was feted by her former students in a ceremony held at New York’s Town Hall. “I did not choose the word. [57] The 16-part oratorio is based on the life of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and written for chorus, orchestra, solo voices and narrator. Undine Smith Moore was born the youngest of three children to James William Smith and Hardie Turnbull Smith. . Moore’s early musical life combined formal education with African American musical roots. Find Undine Smith Moore composition information on AllMusic 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. But she also heard the work songs and the spirituals that she would remember for the rest of her life. Undine Eliza Anna Smith Moore (Aug. 25, 1904 – Feb. 6, 1989) was born in Jaratt, Virigina. 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. [59] On looking back at her life, she later stated: One of the most evil effects of racism in my time was the limits it placed upon the aspirations of blacks, so that though I have been ‘making up’ and creating music all my life, in my childhood or even in college I would not have thought of calling myself a composer or aspiring to be one. 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. [4], On 6 February 1989, aged 84, Undine Smith Moore suffered a stroke. Like Philip Glass, John Adams, and Terry Riley, Steve Reich belongs to a group of composers known as “minimalists,” who write m…, https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/moore-undine-smith-1904-1989, https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/moore-undine-smith. “Undine Smith Moore,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, http://www.timesdispatch.com/blackhistory/MGBXKD41CIC.html (November 6, 2002). Daniel, Daniel, Servant of the Lord (chorus), 1952. [18] The couple often performed together in recitals, as James Moore was a trained vocalist. [2] In 1908, her family moved to Petersburg, Virginia. Traveled to Africa…, Reich, Steve Contemporary Musicians. The granddaughter of former slaves, Moore was born in Virginia in 1904 and by age seven was learning to play the piano. 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. . 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. 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. Sir Olaf and the Eri King’s Daughter, choral cantata, 1925. The song was composed for Marie Goodman and first performed in 1975 by Marie Goodman Hunter (contralto) and Clarence Whiteman (piano) at the Beaux-Twenty Club program in honor of Undine Smith Moore (Petersburg, Virginia). The family moved to Petersburg in 1908, and at age seven, Undine began piano lessons with Lillian Allen Darden. . 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 … 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. 2021 . [34] At her funeral, several of her spiritual arrangements were performed. Moore began to think about ways of incorporating her 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. 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. 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. Were You There Robert Scholz. Next, some music by Undine Smith Moore, who has been called the Dean of black women composers. Moore was originally trained as a classical pianist, but developed a compositional output of mostly vocal music—her preferred genre. Career: Composer and educator. "Moore, Undine Smith 1904–1989 . Harris added that Moore began directing the choir when director J. Harold Montague (1907–50) joined the army. ... shallwegather @perfectdaymusicfoundation @northwesternu @bienenschoolnu @northwesternoperatheatre Some tidbits about Undine Smith Moore—- “Her father was a railroad brakeman; her grandparents were slaves. In 1908, her family moved to Petersburg, Virginia. As an African American musical pioneer in the university setting, Undine Smith Moore inspired and influenced black musicians across the United States. In 1953, Moore composed the “powerful and dissonant” piano solo Before I’d be a Slave, “characterized by tone clusters, bitonality, and quartal harmonies”[41]—a significant step away from her tonal vocal writing. [1] Much of her work was inspired by black spirituals and folk music. Introduction, March, and Allegro, for clarinet, 1958. © 2019 Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. [52] In her youth, Moore experienced the full effect of the Jim Crow era. [20], In 1969, Undine Smith Moore and Altona Trent Johns become co-founders of the Black Music Center at Virginia State College, which aimed to educate members about the “contributions of black people to the music of the United States and the world.”[21][22] Aside from teaching, Moore considered the Center to be her “most significant accomplishment. "My mother loves music. At Virginia State her creative energy was channeled mostly into small pieces for the school’s choral groups and for her own keyboard students. Composer [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. [25] Moore was a visiting professor at Carleton College and the College of Saint Benedict, and an adjunct professor at Virginia Union University during the 1970s. Moore died in 1989. Her compositions are widely performed and loved; many of her choral pieces are staples of the performing repertory among choirs great and small, and she also composed music in other genres, employing a broad range of expressive styles. "Art preserves life in a very special way,'' Undine Smith Moore once said. Career: Composer and educator. Classical Music Many of Moore’s compositions, then, might be described as attempts to infuse a distinct African American sensibility into European forms. [38] Moore was named one of the Virginia Women in History for 2017.[39]. The 752-member Stay at Home Choir joins the King's Singers in Billy Joel's "And so it Goes." Its chorus had been well known since the 1870s for its performances of spirituals. Within the “Cite this article” tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. “The Black Composer Speaks: An Interview with Undine Smith Moore.”, Harris, Carl, and Undine Smith Moore. in 1931, and also studied at the prestigious Juilliard School, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Eastman School of Music. A professor of music at Virginia State University for over 40 years, she numbered among her students the jazz pianist Billy Taylor and a host of others who became famous in their own ways. The works she composed in late life are generally regarded as some of her best. Undine Smith Moore was outspoken on her thoughts surrounding the Civil Rights Movement and the impact it had on her music. 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. So wrote composer Undine Smith Moore in 1978. Scenes from the Life of a Martyr (1981), is a 16-part oratorio composed by Undine Smith Moore in memory of Martin Luther King Jr. Moore wrote the libretto, which includes passages from the Bible, quotations and poetry excerpts. “Before I’d be a Slave.” In, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Undine Moore, Composer of Note and Innovative Music Teacher", "The Black Composer Speaks: An Interview with Undine Smith Moore", "CANDACE AWARD RECIPIENTS 1982-1990, Page 3", "Undine Smith Moore (1904-1989) Marker, QA-28", "Virginia Women in History 2017 Undine Anna Smith Moore", "Steal Away: The African American Concert Spiritual", "Vocalessence Witness - Dance Like The Wind", "Ah! She reestablished contact with one of her teachers at Columbia, Howard Murphy, and embarked on further study with him in order to familiarize herself with the latest developments in classical music coming out of Europe. Smith, Jessie Carney, editor, Notable Black American Women, Book I, Gale Research, 1992. The text is both a proclamation of faith and an invitation for all to come and see Jesus. Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 28, Gale Group, 2001. Undine Smith Moore died on February 6, 1989. 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. 04-21-20 Hampton Baptist Church Selected Music from Dr Belfield on Vimeo 2021 . Her Principal Composition teacher includes Dean of African American Women Composers, Professor Undine Smith Moore of Virginia State University. As with her music, Moore worked toward a broad-based approach that would touch both upon the efforts of African Americans in the classical field and upon, as she told Creative Black Artists, the “true creative genius of the black people in the ditches and the sawmills.” She retired from Virginia State in 1972 and was feted by her former students in a ceremony held at New York’s Town Hall.
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