In 1893 the composer Antonin Dvořák prophesied a ‘great and noble’ school of American classical music based on the searing ‘negro melodies’ he had excitedly discovered since arriving in the United States a year before. But while Black music would found popular genres known the world over, it never gained a foothold in the concert hall.

Joseph Horowitz ranges throughout American cultural history, from Frederick Douglass and Huckleberry Finn to Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and the work of Ralph Ellison, searching for explanations. Challenging the standard narrative for American classical music fashioned by Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland, he looks back to literary figures – Emerson, Melville, and Twain – to ponder how American music can connect with a ‘usable past.’ The result is a ‘new paradigm’ that makes room for Black composers including Harry Burleigh, Nathaniel Dett, William Dawson, and Florence Price to redefine the classical canon.

---

PostClassical Ensemble Executive Director Joseph Horowitz has long been a pioneer in classical music programming. Both his books Classical Music in America: A History (2005) and Artists in Exile: How Refugees from 20th Century War and Revolution Transformed the American Performing Arts (2008) were named best books of the year by The Economist; both deal with Dvořák. He is the recipient of a special commendation from the Czech Parliament for his ‘exceptional explorations of Dvořák’s historic sojourn in America.’

josephhorowitz.com