Explore the music of these six influential black composers in this essential collection. This project, taking over 100 hours in total, is easily my biggest to date. I undertook it for one reason: to try and make the music of these oft-overlooked composers more accessible. Only Scott Joplin is a household name. Most people haven’t even heard of any of the others (although I am pleased that Samuel Coleridge-Taylor made Classic FM’s Hall of Fame for the first time in 2021 with his Deep River). These six composers have, in their own way and in their own time, been as influential and important as the likes of Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart and Liszt. They deserve the same recognition. Joseph Bologne (who was actually known as “The Black Mozart”) was a virtuoso violinist, and Francis Johnson a virtuoso bugler. I have arranged their works for solo piano. Tom Wiggins, Scott Joplin, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and R. Nathaniel Dett were principally pianists, and I have edited some of their piano pieces for the advanced player. CONTENTS JOSEPH BOLOGNE String Quartet in Cm
Violin Concerto op.5 no.2 mv.1
Violin Concerto op.2 no.2 mv.2
Two Symphonies op. 11 no.2 mv.1 FRANCIS JOHNSON Victoria Gallop
Cotillons no.1
Cotillons no.6
Cotillons no.10 TOM WIGGINS Water In The Moonlight
March Timpani SCOTT JOPLIN The Entertainer
The Maple Leaf Rag
The Easy Winners
Paragon Rag
A Breeze From Alabama SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR Cameo no.3
Valse-Suite no.2 'Andante'
Three Silhouettes no.2
Deep River
They Will Not Lend Me A Child
R. NATHANIEL DETT Magnolia Suite no.1 "Magnolias"
In The Bottoms no.2 "His Song"
In The Bottoms no.5 "Juba Dance"