Harry T. Burleigh Part I

Season 3 Episode 6 | 30m 2sVideo has Closed Captions

Harry Burleigh was an American classical composer, arranger, and professional singer known for his b

Harry Burleigh was an American classical composer, arranger, and professional singer known for his baritone voice. The first black composer who was instrumental in developing characteristically American music, Burleigh made black music available to classically trained artists both by introducing them to spirituals and by arranging spirituals in a more classical form.

03/27/2025

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Chronicles is a local public television program presented by WQLN

Harry T. Burleigh Part I

Season 3 Episode 6 | 30m 2sVideo has Closed Captions

03/27/2025

Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback

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- Chronicles is made possible by a grant from the Erie Community Foundation, a community assets grant provided by the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority support from Spring Hill Senior Living, the Regional Science Consortium, and the generous support of Thomas B. Hagen. - This - Is WQLA. - The mind alone is the real means by which man advances just in proportion to the power devoted to the extension of knowledge and the broadening of our capacities. We better our conditions and lessen the burdens and difficulties of life equipped in mind, strengthened in body, firm of purpose. These are the results of true education. Tell a man to stay where he is and he will have no excellence. For we will have no incentive. And where there's no incentive, you can not expect progress. Harry T. Burleigh On March 5th, 1832, against the impossible odds established by America's original sin, Hamilton Waters paid for his freedom and debt of his mother, Lovey, upon payment. They had 15 days to leave the state of Maryland or else their freedom would be deemed forfeit. Despite his blindness, Hamilton and his mother headed north towards the Finger Lakes where they had family in Ithaca, New York, who were members of the Saint James African Methodist, Episcopal Zion Church. The country was beginning to fray at the seams as the north and the south disputed the slave trade. And even in lacking sight, Hamilton saw the merits espoused by Frederick Douglas and discovered solace in education and music. - I always smile when I think about Hamilton Waters because Hamilton Waters is a quintessential hero born in slavery to have achieved for himself his own freedom. Then also to be able to reclaim his origin. His mother from the oppression - Hamilton Waters, met his wife, Lucinda Duncanson in Ithaca, New York, where they were married. And their first child, Elizabeth, who would be Harry T. Burleigh's mother was born and then they traveled. They migrated to Erie, Pennsylvania, where he was employed by Robert Vosburgh, who employed Hamilton Waters, even though he was somewhat blind, but he was, he was, he could press clothes by feel, and so he was employed in Erie. - It's a relatively small family with a momentous impact on seeing the possible, seeing what's possible being a point at which folks of goodwill could have some inflection into something better for more and more people. 'Deep River' chime on church bells - Burleigh's grandfather fought for education in, not just for his family, but for community in Erie when he settled there. And there's a, the story of him being beaten as a young boy by his putative father who owned the plantation he was on for trying to teach himself to learn - Education was very important to, to Hamilton Waters, both for himself and for his family. He sent his, his daughter, Elizabeth, Burleigh's mother, to the Avery College in Pittsburgh, where she graduated in 1855. And her graduation ceremony was reported in the Pittsburgh papers and then quoted in the Erie papers. She did teach in the colored school that had 300 students, but she was a janitor in the school where she should have been teaching Erie, Erie PS, public school number one. - Burleigh's mother spoke fluent French could read Greek and Latin. She used to teach Sunday school from a Greek New Testament, and they worked for some of the wealthiest families in Erie, but they had to struggle economically because of the opportunities that were foreclosed to them and under Jim Crow. And they never could rely too much on any one white individual's employment. So they kept as many income streams as possible. - With his various means of employment, Hamilton was able to save enough, and by the 1850s, he purchased the family its own part of land, close to the Erie Bayfront.

Lot 2 6 7 9. As for Elizabeth Waters, after a brief courting, she will go on to Mary Henry Thacker Burleigh on September 17th, 1862. The same day as the Battle of Antitem. Henry would serve in the Union Navy for more than a year before he returned home to Erie. In 1865, almost another year later, Elizabeth would give birth to the third of their five children. On December 2nd, 1866.

A son. Harry t Burleigh, even amongst the mirth and love hardship, was never far off. Henry Thacker.

Burleigh would pass away suddenly in a Chicago train station in 1873 at the age of 37. In the face of tragedy and societal prejudices, the folk songs Hamilton sang, passed down from generations before, kept the family's spirits afloat. - As a child, you take in those tunes, you don't really know what key it's in or what the meter is or the rhythm of it, but you, you, you do learn the words. You learn the, the kind of the flavor of the piece, the spirit of it. And I'm sure his grandfather and family members talked to him about those songs and, and why they were sung. And what were some of those meanings in them. - Negro spirituals are songs that originated with African slaves who would sing these songs to express their religion. But the songs were also used to protest their oppression by their slave owners. And some songs also served as clues and maps to safe houses along the Underground Railroad. Songs like 'Follow the Drinking Gourd', 'Wade in the Water' and Swing Low - Spirituals. They are vehicle that was utilized by enslaved people here in America for not only religious purposes, but also for acts of defiance to the persecution that we were going through to give hope. And then some songs are just used to just make you happy, you know, In that great, getting the Morning, you know, so there are certain songs that also were used as messages. - You don't write a spiritual tune. It, it's something that comes organically, like folk tunes. You don't come sit down, I'm gonna compose a folk tune. But they, they are born out of experience. So the experience of African American slaves gave us this repertoire. - Harry T. Burleigh grew up in the reconstruction era. When there was more hope for African Americans in Erie, there wasn't the as much resistance to African Americans because it was a small community and the white community didn't feel threatened by it, even though there was, there was racism, but it wasn't as overt as it was many places. - Education was central music was central. His mother and his aunt, they sang in the Orpheus Society, which was a very elite audition only group in Erie. And music was central as they worked. It wasn't just for performing. You know, there's stories of his grandfather singing as they're working together, lighting lamps in the early morning, but also poignantly. They would sing when they would help his mom clean desks at the public school in Erie. So music was central, I think, to just their sense of well being and joy and the difficult circumstances they found themselves, but they also loved European music and played it and sang it and harmonized. So music, love of music and education.

So central, - We have to put ourselves into a space, a family home environment where all the kids and us individuals don't take our own cell phones into our own corner and watch Netflix. We came together as a family around a piano, if there was one to sing and to make music at home. On top of that, in Burleigh's family with a grandfather who was a slave, singing these melodies to him, melodies that are universally embraced because they are modal folk music and everyone can relate to the words. There is something powerful and nurturing in your soul with that. - Spirituals were a way to uplift and to keep hope. In one's heart, there were so many, every day, some tragedy that happened. A mother getting a child taken away from them, never knowing their name right, or never knowing where they went to because their name was then changed to something else. Once they were sold, there were beatings and whippings and all these things. Then there were the people in the field where they used these songs to help them.

Go to sleep you little baby, you know Go to sleep you little baby Things like that that will just say, oh, this is the motor, let's keep going. Because if we don't, there's pain coming. - There's some conditions that we fear that we, we work our way away from. So much so that it's only art that can take us to the most difficult places. It is very likely seems to me that it's not possible to tell the full story of the American experience without the spirituals either. The spiritual is a work of art, like literature, a master work, illuminating or that illuminates the human condition. My Lord what a morning My Lord what a morning My Lord what a morning When the stars begin to fall When the stars begin to fall My Lord what a morning My Lord what a morning My Lord what a morning When the stars begin to fall - Singing, singing, singing. He was always singing that that comment was made about Burleigh, wherever, whatever he was doing, whatever his job was, he was always singing. And that was informal.

But he was also beginning to appear. His name is beginning to appear in the Erie newspapers more and more commonly. St.

Paul's church, Episcopal church. It was a great preparation for his later career because the quality of of church music that was, that was sung in that choir at St.

Paul's was, was very rich. He really had a good grounding in church music from the, from the time he was a child - For his formal education. Important would be the experience of music tutelage through a St. Paul's music.

And it was clear that was those connections, that learning those relationships and that participation at St. Paul was, you know, the key to moving from music as a, a personal entertainment and family experience into seeing a professional role burgeoning. - When Burleigh wasn't singing at St.

Paul's, he was anything but idol. While at school, he exhibited a particularly strong grasp of mathematics. However, when at work he did not shy away from the type of manual labor that defines men of a coarser and more hardened disposition, like the pay he received from working down by the docks. Burleigh would also assist his stepfather, John Elmendorf. Elmendorf's horse stables had become the preferred vendor for Erie's elite. But the young Burleigh always found a way to fulfill his passion for music. He took a job in the warehouse at the Colby Piano Company on State Street, and negotiated an agreement with the owners that allowed him to practice his musicianship after hours on the company's merchandise. There was no limit to Burleigh's pursuit of musical enrichment. - He wanted to hear Rafael Jossefy, who played at the Russell home, and Burleigh stood outside in the snow trying to listen, and came down with almost pneumonia. And his mother wasn't going to let that happen again. And so she asked Mrs. Russell whether Burleigh could be the doorman and be inside the next time. - Why did he have to be outside? Because he did not have the stature to be an invited guest. However, his inveterate commitment to the best that music had to offer and experiencing that turned into another kind of solution for him to, in future, be able to stay abreast of the best that was coming through Erie, - Rafael Jossefy, Hungarian world traveling pianist, wrote the sort of sentimental leading into good, you know, lush Hollywood classic black and white film orchestra, that style of writing. So one of the publications we have for him, which we know would've been for the masses called Aqua. And it's not too difficult, it's approachable, but it's just lovely. So you hear the just music that's very familiar, especially in early 19 hundreds, late 18 hundreds, and then more challenging example, but so popular at the time. Just charming piece called 'The Mill', where he does all these piano sound effects, like so the pianist at home can practice their repeated notes, and then it just becomes a fun dance. Several pages of that, but just a jolly good old time from this composer, Burleigh would've heard the most virtuoso of playing, but also the most American, romantic, popular, just charming people type of music. And we see in all of Burleigh's compositions his ability to do that. - We drive by State Street now and don't think much of music being a vibrant part of earlier Erie life with groups and choirs and music societies and band leading. And to support that those interests, those common interests, there were lots of music groups that were operating at a very high level. So it led to an opportunity for Burleigh to heighten his skills and open next doors. So imagine what he would not have per ventured if he lived in the limit setting of the enfranchised. - This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. - With his reputation growing, the deep resonating baritone that defined his trademark sound, put Burleigh in high demand, along with his frequent engagements at St.

Paul, where his performances were now being marketed, Burleigh would patronize other organizations around the city, both secular and religious.

From the Temple Anshe Hessed to Erie's many social clubs. So it was little wonder that Burleigh caught the attention of touring groups like the New Orleans University Jubilee singers, and the Fisk Jubilee Singers. When they came through Erie, - The Fisk Jubilee Singers brought the spirituals to prominence. They went on tour from 1871 to 1878, and they were raising money really for their school to keep running, utilizing the spiritual as one of their main vehicles for reaching people. Imagine hearing these young voices, these young African-American voices, singing in a way that up until that point, you were really used to hearing more white people singing, or European people singing. Like, whoa, these people are really singing classically, these songs that came from the fields, these songs that came from work songs and sorrow songs, they had a huge impact on what made spirituals become main stay music. Heaven, - Everybody talk about Heaven and going there, Heaven, Heaven Lord walk all over God's heaven. I've got a harp, You've got a harp. All of God's children got a harp.

When I get to heaven, gonna play all the harp, gonna play all over God, heaven. - Well, what's interesting is that in all of these reports of his singing all over town, it's never mentioned that he's black. He's just one of Erie's best singers. That's how he is known as one of Erie's best singers. He was uniquely placed because of who he was and what his gifts were to succeed in an extraordinary, to an extraordinary degree for an African American musician. And it was in fact, one of the leaders of the Fisk Jubilee singers who recruited Burleigh and Burleigh was on his way and spent several months traveling with them. And that's interesting because these groups didn't just sing religious or spirituals, they sang folk songs and, and quite a, an interesting variety of, of repertoire. - His education was both academic and performance because he went on to spend some time with the traveling groups like the Fisk Jubilee Singers, that is at once a recognition of you got something on par with the best. So a mutual enriching occurred through that. And another pillar of what it is to be an educated professional, an artist in the world, speaking directly to the culture while you build it. When he stopped in Cleveland, he got a message from his church in Erie that they had raised his salary. So he, so he went back home briefly. That was just before he went to New York. So the Erie folks didn't wanna give him up, - Even with the hometown love. At 26 years of age, Burleigh was starting to see that his talents could carry him to a world beyond his wildest dreams. For the talented and creative, no city holds a greater gravitational pull than New York. With diverse culture and artistic inspiration around every corner, Burleigh started to imagine something more. His opportunity for a life in the big city came with the establishment of a new music conservatory. The objective was being championed by Jeanette Thurber. She saw a need for America to have an educational musical foundation on par with those she had seen in Europe. She paid top dollar to recruit some of the most celebrated musicians and composers on both sides of the Atlantic to teach at her school, The National Conservatory of Music of America. After he failed his first audition to the school, Burleigh would require a little help from the Erie faithful - Frances MacDowell, who was the mother of Edward, the composer Edward MacDowell. Was a companion to Teresa Carreño of the Venezuelan pianist who performed in Erie At the Russell home.

Burleigh was able to hear Teresa Carreño from inside and, Frances MacDowell was the kind faced woman who was, who was her companion. And so when he was at the conservatory, she was the registrar. And so he felt free to tell her when he, when she told him that he hadn't made it, he shared his deep hopes and what was so important to him to be there. And so she arranged for a second audition, which he passed.

- Stranger than fiction, that he's, you know, a young doorman at this music salon home in Erie. And he meets the mother of Edward MacDowell. And then when he comes here, she's working in the administrative office and really gets him the second shot at his edition - With the success at his second audition. and acceptance in the school. The only question left was how Burleigh would be able to pay for the life in New York. And for just one moment, in Erie's history, wealthy and poor, east side and west side, black and white, the city showed the strength of what a community can be at its best. - They took up a subscription to collect money to help him in his early days in New York City. And the statement that headed that talks about how he was happy to sing all over, all over the town for all kinds of events and people appreciated it. - To look at that subscription list, we gave a gift to the world through one of our own, our own native son. In this support in, we did what HBCUs do, poured into, you know, it's a prescient thing to do. Did we know that it would come back with a return for American culture this way? No.

What we have in common is that will to pour into someone we have already enjoyed, someone we know, already know the good, and to pour it into the future for it to be great and then for it to give us a return that it that endorse internationally as the art song, voice of Iconic American Music. - Chronicles is made possible by a grant from the Erie Community Foundation, a community assets grant provided by the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority support from Spring Hill Senior Living, the Regional Science Consortium, and the generous support of Thomas b Hagen. - We - Question and learn.

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Chronicles is a local public television program presented by WQLN