Race Issues Flashcards
1
Q
What is Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast?
A
- 1898
- Part of cantata trilogy, ‘The Song of Hiawatha’
- Runaway popular success: sold over 140,000 copies by 1914 (more than double the next publication by Elgar)
- Published by Novello (like all choral music)
- Mix of unison and 4-part: easy to sing, but impressive
- Premiered at RCM
2
Q
What issues are raised by the reception of Hiawatha?
A
- Tension caused by its popularity over Elgar
- 1900 performance in Birmingham at the same time as Gerontius, but was more popular
- Hans Richter (conductor) was disgusted at its popularity and called it ‘rubbish’
- Elgar threatened publishers and complained SCT’s success was because of his race
- Even publisher August Jaeger referred to him as a ‘n*****’ and was surprised that a black composer could be successful
3
Q
Why were the Fisk Jubilee Singers successful?
A
- Much better received in Britain than USA, received by royalty/prime minister in 1870s.
- Novelty: African-American spirituals unknown to British public before them
- Marginal/non hegemonic – no threat to canon
- Conformed to ideals: vocal style similar to English choral tradition
4
Q
What does the success of the FJS reveal about white imaginations of race in the 19th century?
A
- Non hegemonic – doesn’t challenge white supremacy. Reinforces it rather than challenging it.
- Conformity: only ok with blackness because Christianity
- Surprise at vocal ability: had only heard minstrel song (white/exoticist imagination of black singers)
- Spiritual tradition itself riven with racist history
- Altered for audiences, more aestheticized than in church services/working in the fields
5
Q
What does the performance of the FJS tell us about empire?
A
- Queen/MPs – seen as a reflection of the political/colonial status as well as a reflection of those people as individuals
- Queen/MPs heavily invested in racial colonial project
- Success indicates positive reflection of empire
- Any failure acts as justification for colonial project (to educate them)
