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About
Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, on December 2, 1866, to free-born parents, Burleigh learned plantation melodies from his maternal grandfather, who had been a slave. Working to supplement the family’s income, the young Burleigh used his rich baritone to garner a number of singing jobs in local churches before winning a scholarship in 1892 to the National Conservatory of Music in New York, which was then headed by Dvořák.
At the Conservatory, Burleigh sang for the Czech master the spirituals and minstrel songs of the mid-19th century. So moved by his renditions was Dvořák that he urged the young African American to assemble and set down the folk tradition of his slave ancestors. As an editor at Ricordi, Burleigh began to publish these spirituals in 1911. In his 1916 collection, Jubilee Songs of the United States, he arranged the African-American melodies for piano and voice. It became the standard recital fare for the great singers of the day, as well as repertoire for vocal ensembles such as the Fisk Jubilee Singers and the Hampton Singers. It includes Burleigh’s well-known arrangement of the spiritual “Deep River.” The success of these arrangements created a positive climate for Burleigh’s original songs and other choral and chamber compositions–over 200 works in all–including a setting of Walt Whitman’s “Ethiopia Saluting the Colors” (1915).
In addition to composing and editing, Burleigh retained the post of baritone soloist at St. George’s Episcopal Church in New York from 1894 to 1946; was the first African American chosen as soloist at Temple Emanu-El, a New York synagogue; won acclaim as a recitalist who sometimes accompanied himself on the piano; toured Europe; and gave command performances for royalty. Active until 1946, when he retired to a nursing home in Connecticut, Burleigh died on September 12, 1949 in Stamford, Connecticut.
Burleigh was a beloved and respected artist, and his career and compositions did a great deal to break down color barriers and further the understanding of and appreciation for the role African-American music has played in the larger history of American music. His arrangements brought the spirituals and “sorrow songs” (as W.E.B. Du Bois called them) out of their earlier home, plantation, and minstrel settings and onto the classical concert stage, where they were performed by black and white singers alike. His own songs enriched the repertoire with a deep sensitivity to text and emotion, as well as a singer’s sense of the dramatic, while his career as a performer did a great deal to pave the way for artists like Roland Hayes, Paul Robeson, and Marian Anderson.
–Thomas Hampson and Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold, PBS I Hear America Singing
Related Information
Songs
Ahmed's Song of Farewell
Henry T. Burleigh
Frederick G. Bowles
Song Collection: Sarcen Songs
Almona: Song of Hassan
Henry T. Burleigh
Frederick G. Bowles
Song Collection: Sarcen Songs
Among the Fuchsias
Henry T. Burleigh
Laurence Hope
Song Collection: Five Songs of Laurence Hope
Deep River
Henry T. Burleigh
Spiritual
Ethiopia Saluting the Colors
Henry T. Burleigh
Walt Whitman
Five Songs of Laurence Hope
Song CollectionHenry T. Burleigh
Laurence Hope
Go Down, Moses
Henry T. Burleigh
Spiritual
Her Eyes, Twin Pools
Henry T. Burleigh
James Weldon Johnson
Song Collection: Passionale
His Helmet's Blaze: Almona's Song of Yussouf to Hassan
Henry T. Burleigh
Frederick G. Bowles
Song Collection: Sarcen Songs
I Hear His Footsteps, Music Sweet: Almona's Song of Delight
Henry T. Burleigh
Frederick G. Bowles
Song Collection: Sarcen Songs
I Want to Die While You Love Me
Henry T. Burleigh
Georgia Douglas Johnson
Jean
Henry T. Burleigh
Frank Lebby Stanton
Kashmiri Song
Henry T. Burleigh
Laurence Hope
Song Collection: Five Songs of Laurence Hope
Little David, Play on Your Harp
Henry T. Burleigh
Spiritual
Lovely, Dark, and Lonely One
Henry T. Burleigh
Langston Hughes
Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal
Henry T. Burleigh
Passionale
Henry T. Burleigh
James Weldon Johnson
O, Night of Dream and Wonder: Almona's Song
Henry T. Burleigh
Frederick G. Bowles
Song Collection: Sarcen Songs
Sarcen Songs
Song CollectionHenry T. Burleigh
Frederick G. Bowles
The Jungle Flower
Henry T. Burleigh
Laurence Hope
Song Collection: Five Songs of Laurence Hope
The Glory of the Day was in Her Face
Henry T. Burleigh
James Weldon Johnson
Song Collection: Passionale
The Grey Wolf
Henry T. Burleigh
Arthur Symons
The Young Warrior
Henry T. Burleigh
James Weldon Johnson
This is Nirvana: Yussouf's Song to Almona
Henry T. Burleigh
Frederick G. Bowles
Song Collection: Sarcen Songs
Thou Art Weary: Almona's Song to Yussouf
Henry T. Burleigh
Frederick G. Bowles
Song Collection: Sarcen Songs
Tide
Henry T. Burleigh
Francis Bacon Paine
Till I Wake
Henry T. Burleigh
Laurence Hope
Song Collection: Five Songs of Laurence Hope
Waiting
Henry T. Burleigh
Martha Gilbert Dickinson Bianchi
Worth While
Song CollectionHenry T. Burleigh
Laurence Hope
Song Collection: Five Songs of Laurence Hope
Your Eyes So Deep
Henry T. Burleigh
James Weldon Johnson
Song Collection: Passionale
Your Lips are Wine
Henry T. Burleigh
James Weldon Johnson
Song Collection: Passionale
Videos
Burleigh singing “Go Down, Moses”
2012
Burleigh: “Apart”
2015
Burleigh: “Deep River”
2010
Burleigh: “Lovely, Dark, and Lonely One”
2017
Burleigh: “The Glory of the Day”
2017
Burleigh: “Till I Wake”
2017
Burleigh: “Tide”
2017
Burleigh: “Waiting”
2017
Lecture-Performance: “‘A Vein of Fresh Melody’ – Harry T. Burleigh Ushers in the African American Art Song”
2017
Recordings
"Singing Justice" Seminar Recital
(Margaret Bonds, Henry T. Burleigh, Maud Cuney Hare, Adolphus C. Hailstork, Lori Hicks, Hall Johnson, John Rosamond Johnson, Undine Smith Moore, Robert L. Morris, Robert Owens, Rosephanye Powell, Florence Price, Brandon J Spencer and Spiritual)
2022
View recording
Dreams of a New Day: Songs by Black Composers
(H. Leslie Adams, Margaret Bonds, Henry T. Burleigh, Thomas H. Kerr, Shawn E. Okpebholo, Robert Owens and Damien Sneed)
2021
How Sweet the Sound
(Margaret Bonds, Henry T. Burleigh, Maria Thompson Corley, Jacqueline Hairston, Moses Hogan, Hall Johnson, Thomas H. Kerr, Betty Jackson King, Robert L. Morris, Hale Smith, Spiritual and George Walker)
2011
Nobody Knows: Songs of Henry T. Burleigh
(Henry T. Burleigh)
2007
Ev'ry Time I Feel the Spirit
(Henry T. Burleigh and Moses Hogan)
2006
Song of America
(Leonard Bernstein, Henry T. Burleigh, Walter Damrosch, John Woods Duke, Stephen Foster, Charles Griffes, Ned Rorem, Charles Naginski, Clifford Shaw, Abraham Wood, Elinor Remick Warren and Kurt Weill)
2005
Black Manhattan
(Henry T. Burleigh, Will Marion Cook and John Rosamond Johnson)
2003
The Paul Robeson Legacy
(Henry T. Burleigh and Earl Robinson)
2001
I Hear America Singing
(Ernst Bacon, Jean Berger, Paul Bowles, Henry T. Burleigh, Stephen Foster, Ernest Gold, Charles Griffes, Richard Hageman, Sergius Kagen, Charles Martin Loeffler, Edward MacDowell, Charles Naginski, John Jacob Niles, Hermann Reutter, Frédéric Louis Ritter, Ned Rorem, William Grant Still, Hugo Weisgall and Tennessee Williams)
2001
View recording
Shall We Gather - American Hymns & Spirituals
(Henry T. Burleigh, Alexander Reinagle and George Frederick Root)
2001
African-American Composers of 20th Century
(Henry T. Burleigh, Robert Owens and William Grant Still)
2000
Art Songs of Harry T. Burleigh
(Henry T. Burleigh)
1995
Deep River: Songs and Spirituals of Harry T. Burleigh
(Henry T. Burleigh)
1994
The Civil War
(Henry T. Burleigh, Daniel Decatur Emmett, Stephen Foster, John Hill Hewitt, Abraham Lincoln, George Frederick Root, Henry Russell, Joseph Philbrick Webster and Henry Clay Work)
1993
Where the Music Comes From
(Lee Hoiby, Celius Dougherty, Ned Rorem, Henry T. Burleigh, Samuel Barber, Arthur Farwell and Charles Griffes)
1991
The Essential Leontyne Price
(Henry T. Burleigh and John Jacob Niles)
1982
Paul Robeson - The Complete EMI Sessions
(Charles Wakefield Cadman, Henry T. Burleigh, Benjamin Carr, Will Marion Cook, Stephen Foster, Langston Hughes, Carrie Jacobs-Bond, Ethelbert Nevin, Oscar Rasbach and Oley Speaks)
1938
Books
Hard Trials: The Life and Music of Harry T. Burleigh
Harry T. Burleigh: From the Spiritual to the Harlem Renaissance
Dvořák in America, 1892-1895
Dvořák in America: In Search of the New World
Juvenile Nonfiction: suitable for elementary and junior high students. What should the music of America sound like? At the end of the nineteenth century, no one was sure: should we imitate Europe, or find our own voice? But what would that be? When the great Czech composer Antonin Dvořák came here, he found the answer in the "sorrow songs" of his African-American student, Henry Burleigh, in the rhythms of the Indian drums, in the church tunes of Spillville, Iowa. Author, critic, and music-educator Joe Horowitz vividly captures the America Dvořák visited, and the brilliant New World Symphony he created. Through the story of one classical composition, Horowitz reveals the many ways in which all Americans have shaped our culture.
Sheet Music
An Anthology of African and African Diaspora Songs - 60 Songs
Composer(s): H. Leslie Adams, David N. Baker, Margaret Bonds, Charles Brown, H. T. Burleigh, Valerie Capers, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Arthur Cunningham, Harriette Davison Watkins, William Dawson, Mark Fax, Bruce Forsythe, Antônio Carlos Gomes, Adolphus Hailstork, Jacqueline Hairston, Maud Cuney Hare, Jeraldine Herbison, Jonathan Holland, Sylvia Hollifield, Langston Hughes, J. Rosamond Johnson, Thomas Kerr, Lena McLin, Undine Smith Moore, Andre Myers, Camille Nickerson, Fred Onovwerosuoke, Eurydice Osterman, Robert Owens, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Zenobia Powell Perry, Rosephanye Powell, Florence Price, Dave Ragland, Nadine Shanti, Carlos Simon, Hale Smith, Irene Britton Smith, Brandon Spencer, Hilbert Stewart, Howard Swanson, George Walker, Aurelia Young
Song(s): Amazing Grace (H. Leslie Adams)
Christmas Lullaby (H. Leslie Adams)
Sence You Went Away (H. Leslie Adams)
The Heart of a Woman (H. Leslie Adams)
The Alarm Clock (David N. Baker)
The Negro Speaks of Rivers (Margaret Bonds)
Caring (Charles Brown)
Desire (Charles Brown)
Your Eyes So Deep (H. T. Burleigh)
Your Lips Are Wine (H. T. Burleigh)
Autumn (Valerie Capers)
Elëanore (Samuel Coleridge-Taylor)
The Willow Song (Samuel Coleridge-Taylor)
Minakesh (Arthur Cunningham)
Stars (Harriette Davison Watkins)
Out in the Fields (William Dawson)
The Refused (Mark Fax)
With Rue My Heart Is Laden (Bruce Forsythe)
Suspiro d’alma (Antônio Carlos Gomes)
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking (Adolphus Hailstork)
Longing (Adolphus Hailstork)
Loveliest of Trees (Adolphus Hailstork)
Dormi, Jesu (Jacqueline Hairston)
Gardé Piti Mulet Là (Maud Cuney Hare)
I’ll Not Forget (Jeraldine Herbison)
Little Elegy (Jonathan Holland)
In Time of Silver Rain (Sylvia Hollifield)
The Founding Fathers (Langston Hughes)
This is My Land (Langston Hughes)
L’il Gal (J. Rosamond Johnson)
Soliloquy (Thomas Kerr)
Amazing Grace (Lena McLin)
The Year’s at the Spring (Lena McLin)
I Am in Doubt (Undine Smith Moore)
I Want to Die While You Love Me (Undine Smith Moore)
For a Poet (Andre Myers)
Chere, Mo Lemmé Toi (Camille Nickerson)
Gué, Gué, Solingaie (Camille Nickerson)
Mshila (Fred Onovwerosuoke)
Entreaty (I Am the Rose of Sharon) (Eurydice Osterman)
Could I but Ride Indefinite (Robert Owens)
Die Nacht (Robert Owens)
From the Dark Tower (Robert Owens)
The Lynching (Robert Owens)
The Secret (Robert Owens)
Madrigal (Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson)
O Children of Men (Zenobia Powell Perry)
I Want to Die While You Love Me (Rosephanye Powell)
Spring (Florence Price)
The Sum (Florence Price)
Martin Luther King, Jr. (Dave Ragland)
Mangez, Boulez (Eat, Drink, Be Merry) (Nadine Shanti)
Prayer (Carlos Simon)
Troubled Woman (Hale Smith)
Why Fades a Dream? (Irene Britton Smith)
Dream Variations (Brandon Spencer)
Spring Song (Hilbert Stewart)
One Day (Howard Swanson)
I Went to Heaven (George Walker)
Norris Swamp (Aurelia Young)
Voice Type: 36 Songs are for High Voice - Medium to High Voice
24 Songs are for Medium - Medium to Low Voice
"Ethiopia Saluting the Colors"
Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh
Voice Type: Medium
Buy via Classical Vocal ReprintsFive Songs of Laurence Hope
Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh
Song(s): 1. Worth While
2. The Jungle Flower
3. Kashmiri Song
4. Among the Fuchsias
5. Till I Wake
Voice Type: High
Buy via Classical Vocal Reprints"Five Songs of Laurence Hope"
Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh
Song(s): 1. Worth While
2. The Jungle Flower
3. Kashmiri Song
4. Among the Fuchsias
5. Till I Wake
IMSLP: H. T. Burleigh Sheet Music
Find via IMSLPPassionale
Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh
Song(s): 1. Her Eyes, Twin Pools
2. Your Lips are Wine
3. Your Eyes So Deep
4. The Glory of the Day was in Her Face
Voice Type: High
Buy via Classical Vocal Reprints"Sarcen Songs"
Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh
Song(s): 1. Almona: Song of Hassan
2. O, Night of Dream and Wonder: Almona's Song
3. His Helmet's Blaze: Almona's Song of Yussouf to Hassan
4. I Hear His Footsteps, Music Sweet: Almona's Song of Delight
5. Thou Art Weary: Almona's Song to Yussouf
6. This is Nirvana: Yussouf's Song to Almona
7. Ahmed's Song of Farewell
The Sacred Collection, High Voice
Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh
Voice Type: High
Buy via Sheet Music PlusThe Sacred Collection, Medium/Low Voice
Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh
Voice Type: Medium/Low
Buy via Sheet Music Plus'The Spirituals of Harry T. Burleigh,' Low Voice
Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh
Voice Type: Low
Buy via Sheet Music Plus"Tide" Sheet Music (Low Voice)
Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh
Voice Type: Low
View via Library of Congress"Tide" Sheet Music (High Voice)
Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh
Voice Type: High
View via Library of Congress"Waiting" Sheet Music (High Voice)
Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh
Voice Type: High
View via Library of Congress"Waiting" Sheet Music (Low Voice)
Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh
Voice Type: Low
View via Library of Congress