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This CD celebrates the life of innovative American composer Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932-2004), whose accomplishments spanned the worlds of jazz, dance, pop, film, television, and classical music.

World premiere recordings of Perkinson’s orchestral, chamber, and solo instrumental works showcase his distinctive blend of Baroque counterpoint; energetic, streamlined American Romanticism; elements of blues, spirituals, and black folk music; and a rhythmic ingenuity all his own.

Performances by the Chicago Sinfonietta and conductor Paul Freeman, Chicago’s New Black Repertory Ensemble Quartet, and distinguished soloists.

Preview Excerpts

COLERIDGE-TAYLOR PERKINSON (1932-2004)

Sinfonietta No. 1 for Strings

(15:17)

1
I. Sonata Allegro (3:45)
2
II. Song Form: Largo (5:08)
3
III. Rondo: Allegro furioso (6:17)
4
Grass: Poem for Piano, Strings & Percussion (16:08)

Quartet No. 1 based on "Calvary"

(17:04)

5
I. Allegro (5:57)
6
II. [Quarter note] = 54 (5:01)
7
III. Rondo: Allegro vivace (5:57)

Blue/s Forms for Solo Violin

(7:26)

8
I. Plain Blue/s: [Quarter note] = 88-96 (1:46)
9
II. Just Blue/s: Very free (2:50)
10
III. Jettin’ Blue/s: Fast (2:42)

Lamentations: Black/Folk Song Suite for Solo Cello

(15:38)

11
I. Fuguing Tune: resolute (4:24)
12
II. Song Form: plaintive (2:32)
13
III. Calvary Ostinato ( [Quarter note] = 80-88) (3:08)
14
IV. Perpetual Motion ( [Dotted quarter note] = 76) (5:26)
15
Louisiana Blues Strut (A Cakewalk) (2:49)
16
Movement for String Trio (3:56)

Artists

4: Joseph Joubert, piano

5: New Black Music Repertory Ensemble Quartet

8: Sanford Allen, violin

11: Tahirah Whittington, cello

15: Ashley Horne, violin

16: Sanford Allen, violin
Jesse Levine, viola
Carter Brey, cello

What the Critics Are Saying



“It is very difficult,” said the late Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932-2004) in answer to an interviewer’s question, “to say what black music really is.” Therein lies the dilemma for the modern African-American composer who cannot deny his rich cultural heritage but whose goals transcend that immediate heritage to embrace the whole world of the classics.

Phil Muse Atlanta Audio Society

This posthumous anthology consisting of selections from 50 years of work by composer Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932–2004) includes six world premieres—that is to say, it took 50 years for this man’s lifetime output to be recognized. Perhaps that is not so shocking. After all, how easy was it for a black man in the 1950s to obtain a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Manhattan School of Music, and compose his first major work at the age of 22 within the confines of a segregated society? But Perkinson, the namesake of black British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875–1912), didn’t consider himself generically a black composer. Whether or not he allowed himself to be typecast as an ethnic artist, Perkinson’s interpretation of white, WASP, and Western musical convention is spiked with vintage blues and jazz. His music is, therefore, in an uncanny and paradoxical way, the reverse of the cultural plundering associated with Gershwin’s and Dvorák’s musical appropriations. Consequently, if Perkinson’s music isn’t especially innovative, we shouldn’t be surprised that a victim of discrimination and ghettoization would not choose to further isolate himself by throwing 12-tone rows into the mix. After all, experimentation is the spawn of prosperity, not the privilege of hardship.

Fanfare Magazine (www.fanfaremag.com)

“Leonard Bernstein is the only other giant I know of who could do everything that ‘Perk’ could do.”

Robert A. Harris, Northwestern University

Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson chose to be an eclectic rather than an ethnic composer. Sinfonietta for Strings and Grass, the opening works on this “Celebration” CD, are vigorous specimens of 50s neoclassicism warmed in their slow sections by string writing reminiscent of Barber’s.

American Record Guide (www.americanrecordguide.com)

Program Notes

Download Album Booklet

Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932-2004) A Celebration

Notes by Gregory Weinstein

In an interview for the 1978 book The Black Composer Speaks, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson was asked to define black music. He responded:

I cannot define black music. I could say that it is a music that has its genesis in the black psyche or the black social life, but it is very difficult to say what black music really is. There are kinds of black music, just as there are kinds of other musics….

In this response, Perkinson has identified a principle issue confronting scholars and critics of African-American music: how to define it, if indeed there is a unified “it” to define. Many writers have presented perspectives on this problem, perhaps most notably Samuel A. Floyd, who speaks of “Call-Response,” an inclusive process of African-American musical troping. Perkinson’s views were far more pragmatic and personal. He said the only uniquely black aspect of his music was “inspiration”. Only you can decide if the life you live is significantly black; no one can decide that for you, and I don’t think that it’s right for anyone to pass judgment on the nature of your involvement.”

Album Details

Total Time: 79:00

The Sara Lee Foundation is the exclusive corporate sponsor.
This recording is also made possible in part by grants from The National Endowment for the Arts, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and The Louis M. Rabinowitz Foundation.

Producers: (Tracks 1-7, 15) James Ginsburg; (Tracks 8-14, 16) Judith Sherman
Engineers: (Tracks 1-7, 15) Bill Maylone; (Tracks 8-14, 16) Judith Sherman
Recorded:
(Tracks 1-4) May 18-19, 2005 at Lund Auditorium at Dominican University, River Forest, Illinois
(Tracks 5-7, 15) May 6, 2005 at WFMT Chicago
(Tracks 8-14, 16) April 5 & 8, 2005 at Academy of Arts and Letters, New York City
Graphic Design: Melanie Germond, Pete Goldlust
Photos of Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, courtesy of the Center for Black Music Research, Columbia College Chicago.

All works © Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson.
All works except Blue’s Forms and Movement for String Trio engraved and edited by Joe Muccioli, who supervised the recording sessions for Sinfonietta No. 1 and Grass.

© 2005 Cedille Records/Cedille Chicago

CDR 90000 087