H. Leslie Adams

H. Leslie Adams' compositions are infused with jazz and elements of African American folksong. He has set the poetry of American poets Paul Laurence Dunbar, Langston Hughes, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and many others.

Photo: H. Leslie Adams, http://www.hleslieadams.com/

Print This Page

Listen

Track:

    About

    Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Harrison Leslie Adams studied at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music as well as California State University, Long Beach and Ohio State University. Since earning his Ph.D. at Ohio State University in 1973, Adams has taught at several universities throughout the United States.

    H. Leslie Adams is a champion of lyrical song repertoire and is known for his incredibly tonal and highly enjoyable music, which always has a specific emphasis on brilliantly expressing the poetry. In Adams music, contemporary compositional techniques are fused with elements of African American folksong and jazz.

    –Christie Finn

    Source: Josephine Wright’s article in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians

    Related Information

    Songs

    Amazing Grace

    H. Leslie Adams

    H. Leslie Adams

    Branch by Branch

    H. Leslie Adams

    Edna St. Vincent Millay

    Song Collection: Five Millay Songs

    Creole Girl

    H. Leslie Adams

    Leslie Morgan Collins

    Song Collection: Nightsongs

    Daybirth

    Song Collection

    H. Leslie Adams

    Joette McDonald

    Drums of Tragedy

    H. Leslie Adams

    Langston Hughes

    Song Collection: Nightsongs

    Five Millay Songs

    Song Collection

    H. Leslie Adams

    Edna St. Vincent Millay

    For You There is No Song

    H. Leslie Adams

    Edna St. Vincent Millay

    Song Collection: Five Millay Songs

    Gone Again is Summer the Lovely

    H. Leslie Adams

    Edna St. Vincent Millay

    Song Collection: Five Millay Songs

    Homesick Blues

    H. Leslie Adams

    Langston Hughes

    Song Collection: The Wider View

    Li'l Gal / My Man

    H. Leslie Adams

    Paul Laurence Dunbar

    Song Collection: The Wider View

    Love Come and Love Gone

    H. Leslie Adams

    Georgia Douglas Johnson

    Song Collection: The Wider View

    Love Memory

    H. Leslie Adams

    Paul Laurence Dunbar

    Love Rejoices

    H. Leslie Adams

    James Dillet Freeman

    Song Collection: The Wider View

    Love Request

    H. Leslie Adams

    Paul Laurence Dunbar

    Nightsongs

    Song Collection

    H. Leslie Adams

    Langston Hughes

    Georgia Douglas Johnson

    Clarissa Scott Delany

    James Weldon Johnson

    Leslie Morgan Collins

    Night Song

    H. Leslie Adams

    Clarissa Scott Delany

    Song Collection: Nightsongs

    Prayer

    H. Leslie Adams

    Langston Hughes

    Song Collection: Nightsongs

    Sence You Went Away

    H. Leslie Adams

    James Weldon Johnson

    Song Collection: Nightsongs

    The Heart of a Woman

    H. Leslie Adams

    Georgia Douglas Johnson

    Song Collection: Nightsongs

    The Return from Town

    H. Leslie Adams

    Edna St. Vincent Millay

    Song Collection: Five Millay Songs

    The Wider View

    Song Collection

    H. Leslie Adams

    Paul Laurence Dunbar

    Langston Hughes

    Georgia Douglas Johnson

    R. H. Grenville

    James Dillet Freeman

    The Wider View

    H. Leslie Adams

    R. H. Grenville

    Song Collection: The Wider View

    To the Road!

    H. Leslie Adams

    Paul Laurence Dunbar

    Song Collection: The Wider View

    Wild Swans

    H. Leslie Adams

    Edna St. Vincent Millay

    Song Collection: Five Millay Songs

    Videos

    Recordings

    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

    Been in de Storm so Long (Songs My Fathers Taught Me)

    (H. Leslie Adams, Robert Owens, Alfred Hayes and R. Nathaniel Dett)

    2013

    I, Too

    (H. Leslie Adams, Margaret Bonds, Undine Smith Moore, Florence Price and Hall Johnson)

    2012

    With a Song in My Heart

    (H. Leslie Adams, Henry T. Burleigh, Margaret Bonds, Robert Owens and Cecil Cohen)

    2008

    American Songs

    (H. Leslie Adams, Lee Hoiby, Lita Grier and Libby Larsen)

    2006

    Love Rejoices: Songs of H. Leslie Adams

    (H. Leslie Adams)

    2001

    Sence You Went Away

    (H. Leslie Adams and Adolphus C. Hailstork)

    2000

    The Negro Speaks of Rivers

    (H. Leslie Adams, Margaret Bonds, Charles Samuel Brown, Undine Smith Moore, Robert Owens, George Walker, Howard Swanson, Florence Price, Henry Clay Work and Cecil Cohen)

    1998

    Sheet Music

    Anthology of Art Songs by Black American Composers, Compiled by Willis C. Patterson

    Composer(s): H. Leslie Adams, David Baker, Margaret Bonds, Charles Brown, Cecil Cohen, Noel de Costa, Mark Fax, Adolphus C. Hailstork, Eugene Hancock, Thomas Kerr, Jr., Charles Lloyd, Jr., Wendell Logan, Maurice McCall, Dorothy Rudd Moore, Undine Smith Moore, Robert Owens, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Florence Price, Hale Smith, William Grant Still, Howard Swanson, George Walker, Olly Wilson, John Work, Jr.

    Song(s): For You There is No Song (H. Leslie Adams)
    Early in the Mornin' (David Baker)
    A Good Assassination Should Be Quiet (David Baker)
    Status Symbol (David Baker)
    Three Dream Portraits: Minstrel Man; Dream Variations; I, Too (Margaret Bonds)
    The Barrier (Charles Brown)
    Song Without Words (Charles Brown)
    Death of an Old Seaman (Cecil Cohen)
    Two Songs for Julie Ju (Noel da Costa)
    Cassandra's Lullaby (Mark Fax)
    Love (Mark Fax)
    A Charm at Parting (Adolphus C. Hailstork)
    I Loved You (Adolphus C. Hailstork)
    Absalom (Eugene Hancock)
    Nunc Dimittis (Eugene Hancock)
    Riding to Town (Thomas Kerr, Jr.)
    Compensation (Charles Lloyd, Jr.)
    If There Be Sorrow (Wendell Logan)
    Marrow of My Bone (Wendell Logan)
    Chanson Triste (Maurice McCall)
    Sweet Sorrow (Maurice McCall)
    Weary Blues (Dorothy Rudd Moore)
    Love Let the Wind Cry...How I Adore Thee (Undine Moore)
    Faithful One (Robert Owens)
    Genius Child (Robert Owens)
    A Child's Grace (Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson)
    Melancholy (Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson)
    Night (Florence Price)
    Song to the Dark Virgin (Florence Price)
    Velvet Shoes (Hale Smith)
    Grief (William Grant Still)
    A Death Song (Howard Swanson)
    I Will Lie Down in Autumn (Howard Swanson)
    The Negro Speaks of Rivers (Howard Swanson)
    Lament (George Walker)
    A Red, Red Rose (George Walker)
    Wry Fragments (Olly Wilson)
    Dancing in the Sun (John Work, Jr.)
    Soliloquy (John Work, Jr.)

    Buy via Classical Vocal Reprints

    H. Leslie Adams Piano/Vocal Sheet Music

    Buy via American Composers Alliance website

    Second Anthology of Art Songs by Black American Composers (Out-of-Print)

    Composer(s): Leslie Adams, Adolphus Hailstork, John Rosamond Johnson, Hall Johnson, Betty Jackson King, Howard Swanson, John W. Work III

    Song(s): "Prayer" (H. Leslie Adams)
    "Flying" (H. Leslie Adams)
    "Midas, Poor Midas" (H. Leslie Adams)
    "Christ at a Wedding" (H. Leslie Adams)
    "The Future" (T.J. Anderson)
    "I Want to Be Free" (T.J. Anderson)
    "People" (T.J. Anderson)
    "Life" (T.J. Anderson)
    "Hymn to Parnassus"(R. Nathaniel Dett)
    "Music I Heard with You" (Roger Dickerson)
    "I Dream a World" (Uzee Brown Jr.)
    "If He Only Walked in Gardens" (Mark Fax)
    "Entreat Me Not" (Mark Fax)
    "Slave Song" (Adolphus Hailstork)
    "Songs of Love and Justice": "Justice," "Difficulties," "Decisions," "Love" (Adolphus Hailstork)
    "Four Love Songs: "My Heart to Thy Heart," "Invitation to Love," "Longing," "Goodnight," "If we must die"(Adolphus Hailstork)
    "Three Simple Songs": "In Vain," "The Daffodils," "Christmas Everywhere" (Adolphus Hailstork)
    "Lil' gal" (J. Rosamond Johnson)
    "Crossing the Bar" (Hall Johnson)
    "The Foundling" (Hall Johnson)
    "Thou Art My Lute" (Thomas Kerr Jr.)
    "In Memoriam" (Thomas Kerr Jr.)
    "Soliloquy (Haunted)" (Thomas Kerr Jr.)
    "When You Feel a Little Blue" (James Lee III)
    "Three Dunbar Poems": "Compensation," "Theology," "Dawn" (Betty Jackson King)
    "Hatred" (Robert L. Morris)
    "Ubique" (Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson)
    "The Faithless Shepherdess" (Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson)
    From "Thirteen Jazz Settings": "In Case You Put Me Down," "They All Say You're Lovely," "No, Babe, We Never Swing," "You are Not Quite the Air," "In Your Arms Baby" (Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson)
    "One Day" (Howard Swanson)
    "Snow Dunes" (Howard Swanson)
    "Breathe on Me, Breath of God" (John W. Work, III)

    Find at your Local Library

    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

    Buy via Classical Vocal Reprints

    Support us and help us grow

    Dear friends, Thank you for helping us build a comprehensive online archive of American song. Your gift is greatly appreciated.