Piano Works by African American Composers
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The Battle of Manassas (1866)
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Water in the Moonlight (1892)
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Rain Storm (1865)
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Reve Charmant (1881)
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The Oliver Gallop (1860)
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Sewing Song (1889)
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March Timpani (1880)
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Wellenklange: Voices of the Waves (1882)
Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins - Thomas Bethune (1849-1908)
A blind, slave pianist, autistic savant, musical prodigy from Georgia
Scott Joplin (1867-1917)
The “King of Ragtime”, an African American composer and pianist, achieved fame for his ragtime
compositions
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Great Crush Collision
March (1896)
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Combination March (1896)
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Harmony Club Waltz
(1896)
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Original Rags (1899)
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Maple Leaf Rag (1899)
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Swipesy Cakewalk (1900)
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Peacherine Rag (1901)
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Sunflower Slow Drag
(1901)
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Augustan Club Waltz
(1901)
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The Easy Winners (1901)
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Cleopha (1902)
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A Breeze from Alabama
(1902)
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Elite Syncopations (1902)
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The Entertainer (1902)
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March Majestic (1902)
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The Strenuous Life (1902)
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Something Doing (1903)
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Weeping Willow (1903)
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Palm Leaf Rag (1903)
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The Sycamore (1904)
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The Favorite (1904)
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The Cascades (1904)
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The Chrysanthemum
(1904)
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Bethena (1905)
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Blinks’ Waltz (1905)
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The Rosebud March
(1905)
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Leola (1905)
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Eugenia (1906)
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The Ragtime Dance 1906)
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Antoinette (1906)
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The Nonpareil (1907)
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Gladiolus Rag (1907)
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Searchlight Rag (1907)
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Lily Queen (1907)
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Rose Leaf Rag (1907)
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Heliotrope Bouquet (1907)
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Fig Leaf Rag 1908)
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Sugar Cane (1908)
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Sensation (1908)
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Pine Apple Rag (1908)
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Pleasant Moments 1909)
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Wall Street Rag (1909)
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Solace (1909)
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Country Club (1909)
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Euphonic Sounds (1909)
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Paragon Rag (1909)
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Stoptime Rag (1910)
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Felicity Rag (1911)
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Scott Joplin’s New Rag
(1912)
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Kismet Rag (1913)
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Silver Swan Rag (1914)
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Magnetic Rag (1914)
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Pretty Pansy Rag (1915?)
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Recitative Rag (1915?)
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Reflection Rag (1917)
Piano Works by African American Composers
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Harry Thacker Burleigh (1866-1949)
African American!classical!composer, arranger, and professional singer known for his!baritone!voice
Robert Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943)
Composer, organist, pianist, choral director, professor, born in Canada, moved to the U.S. at age 11
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After the Cakewalk!(1900)
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Cave of the Winds!(1902), march and two-step
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Magnolia, Suite for Piano!(1912)
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In the Bottoms!(1913), Suite for piano [Prelude
(Night), His Song, Honey (Humoresque),
Barcarolle (Morning), Juba Dance]
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Eight Bible Vignettes
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Inspiration Waltzes
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Enchantment!(1922), a Romantic Suite for solo
piano [Incantation, Song of the Shrine, Dance
of Desire]
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The Cinnamon Grove!(1928), a Suite for piano
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Tropic Winter!(1938), a Suite for Piano
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Eight Bible Vignettes!(1941–1943)
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Nepenthe and the Muse
James Sylvester Scott (1885-1938)
Ragtime composer and pianist, regarded as one of the three most important composers of classic
ragtime
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From the Southland, six pieces (1914) [Through the Moanin’ Pines, The Frolic, In De Col’ Moonlight, A
Jubilee, On Bended Knees, A New Hidin’ Place]
Nora Holt (c.1885-1974)
Singer, composer, music critic, first African American to receive a Master’s Degree in composition in
the United States
Piano Works by African American Composers
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Florence Price (1887-1953)
African American classical composer, pianist, organist, music teacher, from a mixed-race Arkansas
family
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Tarantella!(1926)
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Impromptu No. 1!(1926)
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Valsette Mignon!(1926)
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Preludes!(1926-32): No. 1 Allegro moderato; No.
2 Andantino cantabile; No. 3 Allegro molto; No. 4
[“Wistful”] Allegretto con tenerezza; No. 5 Allegro
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At the Cotton Gin!(1927)
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Song without Words in G Major!(1928 or early
1930s)
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Meditation!([ca. 1929])
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Fantasie nègre [No. 1] (E minor)!(1929, rev.
1931); based on the spiritual "Sinner, please
don't let this harvest pass"
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On a Quiet Lake!(June 23, 1929)
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Barcarolle!(ca. 1929-32)
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His Dream!(ca. 1930-31)
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Cotton Dance!(Dance of the Cotton Blossoms)
(1931)
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Fantasie nègre No. 2 in G minor!(March, 1932)
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Fantasie nègre No. 3 in F minor!(March 30,
1932)
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Fantasie nègre No. 4 in B minor!(April 5, 1932 -
[ca. 1937]) (4 versions)
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Piano Sonata in E minor (1932)
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3 Little Negro Dances!(1933); also arranged for
for two pianos (1949)
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Tecumseh!(published 1935)
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3 Sketches for little pianists!(1937)
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Arkansas Jitter!(1938)
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Bayou Dance!(1938)
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Dance of the Cotton Blossoms!(1938)
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Summer Moon (for Memry Midgett)' (April 6,
1938)
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Down a Southern Lane!(April 29, 1939)
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On a Summer's Eve!(June 15, 1939)
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Rocking chair!(1939)
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[Ten Negro Spirituals for the Piano]![1937-42):
Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler; I’m Troubled
in My Mind; I Know the Lord Has Laid His Hands
on Me; Joshua Fit de Battle of Jericho; Gimme
That Old Time Religion; Swing Low, Sweet
Chariot; I Want Jesus to Walk with Me; Peter, Go
Ring dem Bells; Were You There When They
Crucified My Lord; Lord, I Want to Be a Christian
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Remembrance!(1941 or earlier)
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Village Scenes!(1942): "Church Spires in
Moonlight," "A Shaded Lane," "The Park"
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Your Hands in Mine!(1943) (originally
titled!Memory Lane)
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Clouds![ca. 1940s]
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Cotton Dance (Presto)!([ca. 1940s])
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2 Fantasies on Folk Tunes!(date unknown)
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In Sentimental Mood!(1947)
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Whim Wham!(July 6, 1946)
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Placid Lake!(July 17, 1947)
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Memories of Dixieland!(1947)
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Sketches in Sepia!(September, 1947)
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Rock-a-bye!(1947)
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[Three Roses]: To a Yellow Rose, To a White
Rose,To a Red Rose!(1949)
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To a Brown Leaf!(1949)
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First Romance(ca. 1940s)
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Waltzing on a Sunbeam!(ca. 1950
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Snapshots: I. Lake Mirror (1952), II. Moon
behind a Cloud (1949), III. Flame (1949)
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Until We Meet!(1952)
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Dances in the Canebrakes!(1953)
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about 70 teaching pieces
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I'm Troubled in My Mind
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Pieces to a Certain Pair of Newlyweds
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Three Miniature Portraits of Uncle
Ned!(originally "Three Miniature Portraits of
Uncle Joe"; later "Two Photographs”
Piano Works by African American Composers
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Duke Ellington (1899-1974)
Composer, pianist, leader of a jazz orchestra
William Grant Still (1895-1978)
The “Dean of Afro-American Music,” classical composer and conductor from Mississippi
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A Deserted Plantation, suite in 3 movements
(1933)
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3 Visions (1935) [Dark Horsemen,
Summerland, Radiant Pinnacle]
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Quit Dat Fool’nish (1935)
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7 Traceries (1939) [Cloud Cradles, Mystic Pool,
Muted Laughter, Out of the Silence, Woven
Silver, Wailing Dawn, A Bit of Wit]
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Kaintuck for 2 pianos
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Entrance of the Porteuses
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Bells (1943) [The Phantom Chapel, Fairy Knoll]
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Marionette (1946)
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Preludes [5] for piano
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Five Animal Sketches
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Swanee River, arrangement
James Hubert “Eubie” Blake (1887-1983)
Composer, lyricist, pianist of ragtime, jazz and popular music
Piano Works by African American Composers
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Undine Smith Moore (1904-1989)
The "Dean of Black Women Composers," a notable, prolific American!composer, professor of music,
classical pianist
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Valse Caprice!(1930)
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Before I'd Be a Slave!(1953)
Howard Swanson (1907-1978)
African American composer of classical music
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“The Cuckoo” Scherzo for piano (1948)
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Piano Sonata (1950)
John Wesley Work III (1901-1967)
Composer, educator, choral director, musicologist, scholar of African-American folklore and music
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Sassafras, pieces for piano (1946)
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Big Bunch of Roses
Zenobia Powell Perry (1908-2004)
Composer, professor from Oklahoma
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Childhood Capers (1935)
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Rhapsody (1960)
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Nocturne (1961)
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Times Seven (1964, Rev. 1985)
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Orrin and Echo (1970)
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Flight (1970)
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Ties (1970)
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Teeta (1972, Rev.1988)
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Round and Round (1977)
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Soliloquy (Rev.1979)
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March (Three Notes) (1980)
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Blaize (1985)
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Suite from Tawawa House (1985, Rev.2014)
[Overture, Cake Walk, Sunday Dance Tune,
Prelude, Fire Music, Jumping Over the Broom]
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A Jazz Trifle (1986)
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Vignette No.1 (1990)
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Vignette No.2 (1990)
Piano Works by African American Composers
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Margaret Allison Bonds (1913-1972)
African American composer and pianist from Chicago
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Lillian M. Bowles: For the piano
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Troubled water
Ulysses Kay (1917-1995)
African American neoclassical composer from Arizona
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Four Inventions (1946)
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First Nocturne for Piano (1973)
Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981)
Jazz pianist, arranger, composer from Georgia
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Runnin’ Wild (1922), arrangement
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The Moon is Low (1929), arrangement
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Sleepy Time Gal (1924), arrangement
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In a Mist (1927), arrangement
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Little Joe from Chicago (1938)
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Lullaby in Rhythm (1938)
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Duces Wild (1944)
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Chili Sauce (1944)
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The Duke and the Count (1944)
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Twinklin’ (1944)
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Special Freight (1944)
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I Never Knew (I Could Love Anybody)
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Bobo and Doodles (1944)
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Mary’s Boogie, transcription
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The Moon is Low
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Drag ‘em
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Nite Life
John Len Chatman “Memphis Slim” (1915-1988)
Blues pianist, singer and composer
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Mr. Freddie
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Sail On Blues
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Walkin’ the Boogie
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Cow Cow Blues
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Jefferson County Blues
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Four O’Clock Blues
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Trouble in Mind
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44 Blues
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88 Boogie
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Down Home Blues
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Down That Big Road
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Roll and Tumble
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Crowing Rooster
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Woman Blues Boogie
Piano Works by African American Composers
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George Walker (1922-2018)
Composer, pianist, organist, first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music
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Music for Two Pianos
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Piano Sonata No. 1
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Piano Sonata No. 2
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Piano Sonata No. 3
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Piano Sonata No. 4
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Piano Sonata No. 5
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Sonata for Two Pianos
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Spatials for Piano
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Spektra for Piano
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Four Seasonal Sketches: Spring Intermezzo, Summer Interlude, Autumn Dance, Winter Holiday
Betty Jackson King (1928-1994)
Pianist, singer, educator, choral conductor, composer
Julia Amanda Perry (1924-1979)
Classical composer and teacher
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Pearls on Silk
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Prelude for Piano
Hale Smith (1925-2009)
Composer, pianist, educator, arranger, editor from Cleveland
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My Scarf is Yello
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Off-Beat Shorty
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Evocation
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Mirrors: Rondo and Variations for 2 pianos
1. Agitato
2. Slowly
Billy Taylor (1921-2010)
Jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster, educator
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Black Swan Rag
Piano Works by African American Composers
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H. Leslie Adams (1932)!
Composer, choral conductor, show music director, educator
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Three Piano Preludes (1961)
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Twenty-six Etudes for Solo Piano
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Contrasts for Piano (2001)
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Five Portraitures of Two People, 4 hands (1965)
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Watermelon (1971)
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Street Song (1977)
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Play Me Something (1979)
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Call and Response (1982)
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Pasacaglia and Blues (1990)
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Boogie Woogie Fantasy (1997)
Thomas Jefferson “T.J.” Anderson (1928)
Composer, professor of music
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Portraits in Jazz (1976), 12 pieces {Ella Scats a Little Lamb, Waltz for Miles, The Monk, Sweet Mister Jelly
Roll, A Taste of Bass, Blues for Duke, Billy’s Songs, Mr. Satchmo, Canción de la Havana, Bossa Brazilla,
Blue Bird, Cool-Trane]
Valerie Capers (1935)!
A Juilliard trained blind jazz composer, pianist, educator
Roger Donald Dickerson (1934)!
Composer, jazz pianist, educator
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Sonatina
David Baker (1931-2016)!
Jazz composer, conductor, musician, and educator from Indianapolis
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Sonata No.1
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Five Short Pieces for Solo Piano (1970)
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Jazz Dance Suite (1989)
Piano Works by African American Composers
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Julius Eastman (1940-1990)
Composer, pianist, vocalist, dancer, combined minimalism with elements of pop music
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Piano Pieces I-IV (1968), solo piano
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Touch Him When (1970) for piano 4 hands
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Gay Guerilla (ca. 1980) for 4 pianos
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Crazy Nigger (ca. 1980) for 4 pianos
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Piano 2 (1986), solo piano
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Trio Sonata for Solo Piano
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2 Scherzos for solo piano
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Piano Sonata No.1.
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Piano Sonata No.2
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Piano Sonata No.3
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Ignis Fatuus (Mysterious Fires)
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Eight Variations on Shalom Chevarim
Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork (1941)
Composer, professor
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A Little Whimsy (1978)
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Dream and Variations (1974)
Dorothy Rudd Moore (1940)!
Composer, music educator, co-founder of the Society of Black Composers
Alvin Singleton (1940)!
Composer from Brooklyn, New York
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Mutations (1966)
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Cinque (1969)
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Argoru I (1970)
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Changing Faces (1970)
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Le Tombeau du Petit Prince (1978), for
harpsichord
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Inside-Out (19884), piano 4 hands
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In My Own Skin (2010)
Piano Works by African American Composers
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Anthony Braxton (1945)
Composer, musician, educator from Chicago
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Composition No.1 (1968)
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Composition No.5 (1969)
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Composition No.10 (1969)
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Composition No.16 for 4 pianos (1971)
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Composition No.30 (1973)
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Composition No.31 (1974)
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Composition No.32 (1974)
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Composition No.33 (1974)
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Composition No.139 (1988)
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Composition No.301 (2001)
Joyce Solomon Moorman (1946)
Composer, educator
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Theme and 12 Variations
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Piano Suite
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A Young Woman’s Impressions of New York
City
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A Summer Afternoon in South Carolina
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Piano Sonata
Earl Louis Stewart (1950)
Composer, musician, conductor from Louisiana
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The Budding Rose Rag (1969)
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Preludes for the Young Pianist (1973) [Lullaby
for Sonny, Song of the Fourth, Clouds]
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Song for Annell (1978)
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Afro-Inventions Book 1 (1994) [Swing, Rag,
Ngoma, New Orleans, Traditional Calypso,
Afro-Latin, Neo-Salsa, Afro-Latin, Neo-Funk,
Swing, Neo-New Orleans, Neo-Bebop]
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Birthday Rag (2003)
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In a Meeting Rag (2003)
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Joplin Lives (2003)
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My Neah Rag (2003)
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Festive Rag (2010)
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A Glimpse Into Another World Rag (2010)
Wallace McClain Cheatham (1945)
Composer, musician, researcher, conductor, educator
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Prelude No.1 “Joshua fit the Battle of Jericho”
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Prelude No.2 “Pour Mourner’s Got a Home”
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Prelude No.3 “Didn’t it Rain”
Piano Works by African American Composers
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A Walk Through the Shadow (1981)
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Behind the Walk (1984)
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Goddess Variations (1999)
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Middle Passage (1983)
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Wayang VI (1985)
Anthony Curtis Davis (1951)!
Composer, pianist, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his opera
Geoffrey Dana Hicks (1954)
Composer, director, educator, pianist, performer, recording artist,
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The Storm (1964)
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Theme and Variation for Piano in C (1970)
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Sonata for Tape and Piano (1975)
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24 Short Pieces for Piano (1980)
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A Tribute to R.N. Dett (1988)
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The Picture Preludes for Piano (1992)
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The Impromptu Preludes for Piano (2003)
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The New England Preludes for Piano (2010)
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The Outdoor Preludes for Piano (2011)
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Die Klavier Skizzen (The Piano Sketches
(2011-2012)
Richard Thompson
Composer, pianist, performer, jazz educator
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Six Preludes for Piano
Lettie Beckton Alston (1953-2014)
Composer, educator
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The Journey: The Longest Mile
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Etude
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Moods for Piano (1993) [Playful, Mysteriously,
Gloomy, Joyfully]
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Three Rhapsodies for Solo Piano (1994) [Well-
Marked, Solemn, Playful with Expression]
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Variations on “Let Every Voice and Sing” (2000)
Piano Works by African American Composers
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Regina Harris Baiocchi (1956)
Composer, author, poet, educator from Chicago
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Azuretta
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Déjà Vu
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Equipoise by Intersection
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Legacy
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Liszten, My Husband is Not a Hat!
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Iconoclasm (2017)
Michael Abels (1962)
Award winning composer of film scores, orchestral and solo works, arranger, editor
Geoffrey Mumford (1955)
Composer, educator
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two Elliott Carter tributes
I. For Elliott (1983-84)
II. a celebration of Elliott (2006)
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barbaglio del manca (1981)
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tango variations (1984)
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fragments from the surrounding evening (1984)
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a flower in folding shadows (1986)
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a landscape of interior resonances (2001)
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four dances for Boris (2004)
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of ringing and layered space (2010)
I. “Jenny”
II. “Lura”
Trevor Weston (1967)
Composer, educator
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A Shepherd’s Vouage (1996)
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Meme la lune devient triste de temps en temps
(1998)
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Knell (2002)
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New Blues for TJ (2003)
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Eurythmy Variations (2007)
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Wafting Clouds (2019)
Piano Works by African American Composers
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Gregory Jackson (1976)
Composer, percussionist, director, educator from Tennessee
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Etude, Op.1, No.1 & 2
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Prelude, Op.3
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Prelude Op.4
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Op.7, Allegro
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Mood change, Op.8
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Fantasia, Op.11 (1999)
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Postlude, Op.17
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Etude, Op.27
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Berceuse, Op.51
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Subjective Reality, Op.57
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The First Frost, Op.73
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For Ilyse, Op.101
James Lee III (1975)
Composer from Michigan, educator
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Piano Sonata No.1 (2002)
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Fantasia Ritmica (2003)
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12 Preludes of the New Earth (2009)
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Piano Sonata No.2 (2011)
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Souls of Alkebulan (2012)
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Four Jewish Songs (2018)
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Piano Sonata No.3 (2018)
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Recuerdos Diaspóricos (2018)
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Window to Eternity’s Threshold (2018)
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Ya’akov’s Last Words (2018)
John Wineglass (1973)
Emmy Award-winning television composer, performer
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Piano Suite No.2 in E-flat
1. A Midsummer Waltz
2. The Journey
3. Distant Memories
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Fantasy No.5 for Piano: Ascending Towards
Heaven
Nkeiru Okoye (1972)
Composer
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African Sketches [Dusk, Drums Talking, The Village Children at Play, Dancing Barefoot in the Rain]
Piano Works by African American Composers
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Monday (2004)
Jessica Mays (1987)
Composer, pianist, singer-songwriter
Joe W. Moore III (1986)
Percussionist, educator, composer
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Iceberg
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Just This Once
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Lanota
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My Favorites
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Spectrum
Piano Works by African American Composers
Image Credits:!
Anthony Braxton: Peter Gannushkin!
Anthony Davis: Anthony Davis!
Adolphus Hailstork: Old Dominion University!
Billy Taylor: jazztimes.com!
David Baker: jazzinamerica.org!
Duke Ellington: public domain publicity photo!
Earl Louis Stewart: Photo Credit: Global Music Awards!
Eubie Blake: U.S. Library of Congress!
Florence Price: University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collection!
Geoffrey Dana Hicks: from tremonttemple.org!
Geoffrey Mumford: faculty image at Oberlin.edu!
George Walker: Photograph by Frank Schramm, New York Times Obituary!
Gregory Jackson: Innovative Percussion, Inc.!
H. Leslie Adams, Photograph by Michael Dalby, Wikipedia!
Hale Smith: classicalmpr.org!
Harry T. Burleigh: Photographed by Maud Cuney-Hare, Washington, D.C.: The Associated Publishers, Inc., 1936, p. 328. Copyright
not renewed!
Howard Swanson: Center for Black Music, Columbia College, Chicago. Photograph by Maurice Seymour, New York!
James Lee III: Morgan State University!
James Scott: U.S. Library of Congress!
Jessica Mays: Jessica Mays via newmusicusa.org!
John Len Chatman “Memphis Slim”: deepsouthernsoul.blogspot.com!
Joe W. Moore III: C. Alan Publications!
John Wesley Work: U.S. Library of Congress!
John Wineglass: musicinmay.org!
Joyce Solomon Moorman: discogs.com!
Julia Amanda Perry: blackpast.org!
Julius Eastman: Photographed by Christine Rusiniak!
Lettie Beckton Alston: colorado.edu!
Margaret Bonds: Public Domain Image!
Mary Lou Williams: Photograph by William P. Gottlieb, restoration by Adam Cuerden, U.S. Library of Congress!
Michael Abels: Photo by Jason LaVeris/Film Magic!
Nkeiru Okoye: Credit: Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy!
Nora Holt: Carl Van Vechten, U.S. Library of Congress!
Regina Harris Baiocchi: Regina Harris Baiocchi!
Richard Thompson: richardthompsonpiano.com !
Robert Nathaniel Dett: U.S. Library of Congress, public domain!
Roger Dickerson: louisarmstrongjazzcamp.com!
Scott Joplin: public domain!
Thomas Wiggins: Photoprint by Golder & Robinson, N.Y. Copyrighted by John G. Bethune, U.S. Library of Congress!
Trevor Weston: Photo credit Trevor Weston!
TJ Anderson: Jeffrey Herman, nmbx.newmusicusa.org!
Ulysses Kay: ca. 1975. Ulysses Kay Papers, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University!
Undine Smith Moore: Wikipedia!
Valerie Capers: Valerie Capers!
Wallace M. Cheatham: amicimusicensemble.com!
William Grant Still: Photograph by Carl Van Vechten, U.S. Library of Congress!
Zenobia Powell Perry: colorado.edu