Jul 21, 2019
just finished playing Beethoven’s (insert number between 1-9) symphony. After the concert, I have a chance to discuss the work with members from the audience, and like clockwork someone chimes in with “You know Beethoven was black right?”I don’t think it’s a questions my colleagues get a lot, but how I look my have something to do with that experience. Nevertheless, this week’s topic is about the origins behind that statement.
Sources:
De Lerma, Dominique-René. “Beethoven as a Black Composer.” Black Music Research Journal, vol. 10, no. 1, 1990, pp. 118–122. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/779545.
Rinehart, Nicholas T. “Black Beethoven and the Racial Politics of Music History.” Transition, no. 112, 2013, pp. 117–130. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/transition.112.117.
Solomon, Maynard. Beethoven. Omnibus Press, 2000.
WELLS, ELMER E. “BEETHOVEN—HIS NEGROID CHARACTERISTICS.” Negro History Bulletin, vol. 41, no. 6, 1978, pp. 903–905. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44213876.