Henry T. Burleigh

African-American composer, arranger, and performer Henry Thacker Burleigh was one of those late 19th-century musicians who heeded Antonin Dvořák's challenge to go forth and create a national school of music. In so doing, he became America's first prominent Black composer. (Also known as Harry T. Burleigh or H. T. Burleigh).

Photo: Harry Thacker Burleigh, 1927, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

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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 Collection

    Henry 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

    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 Collection

    Henry 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 Collection

    Henry 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

    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

    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

    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

    A Recital - Marian Anderson

    (Henry T. Burleigh)

    1951

    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

    Sheet Music

    25 Spirituals Arranged by Harry T. Burleigh

    Voice Type: High

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    25 Spirituals Arranged by Harry T. Burleigh

    Voice Type: Low

    Buy via Classical Vocal Reprints

    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

    "Ethiopia Saluting the Colors"

    Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh

    Voice Type: Medium

    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 

    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 

    Free Sheet Music on IMSLP

    IMSLP: H. T. Burleigh Sheet Music

    Find via IMSLP

    "Jean"

    Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh

    View via WorldCat

    Passionale

    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

    View via Library of Congress

    Sarcen Songs

    Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh

    Voice Type: High

    Buy via Classical Vocal Reprints

    Saracen Songs

    Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh

    Voice Type: Low

    Buy via Classical Vocal Reprints

    Three Shadows

    Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh

    Voice Type: High

    Buy via Classical Vocal Reprints

    Three Shadows

    Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh

    Voice Type: Medium

    Buy via Classical Vocal Reprints

    "The Glory of the Day was in Her Face"

    Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh

    View via Library of Congress

    "The Grey Wolf"

    Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh

    Buy via Classical Vocal Reprints

    The Sacred Collection, High Voice

    Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh

    Voice Type: High

    Buy via Sheet Music Plus

    The 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

    'The Young Warrior'

    Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh

    View via Library of Congress

    "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

    "Your Eyes so Deep"

    Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh

    View via Library of Congress

    "Your Lips are Wine"

    Composer(s): H. T. Burleigh

    View via Library of Congress

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