This page lists some of the resources that I’ve either cited in my own work or have found useful for some additional background information. Please remember that some older material might contain incomplete or incorrect information. For this reason, please remember to check the references for yourself before using them in your own work!
Books
- Agawu, K., (2003) Representing African music : postcolonial notes, queries, positions. Routledge, New York and London.
- Blevins, S. (2016) Living Cargo: How Black Britain Performs Its Past, Living Cargo. University of Minnesota Press.
- Gray, J. (ed.) (2023) Blacks in Classical Music Ii: An International Bibliography and Resource Guide. Nyack, New York: African Diaspora Press (Black music reference series, volume 10).
- Kaufmann, M. (2017) Black Tudors: An Untold History. 1st edn. London: Oneworld. (Amazon)
- Lotz, R. E. (1997) Black people : entertainers of African descent in Europe and Germany. Birgit Lotz Verlag. (Amazon, Abebooks)
- Matera, M. (2015) Black London: the imperial metropolis and decolonization in the twentieth century. University of California Press. (Abebooks)
- Omojola, B. (1995) Nigerian Art Music. Institut français de recherche en Afrique. doi: 10.4000/books.ifra.598. (OpenEdition free online access)
- Sadoh, G. (2015) Five Decades of Music Transmutation in Nigeria and The Diaspora
- Sadoh, G. (2018) The Centenary of The Cathedral Church of Christ Choir, Lagos. GSS Publications.
- Toynbee, J. et al. (2016) Black British Jazz Routes, Ownership and Performance. Taylor and Francis. (Abebooks)
Youtube
- Agawu, K. (2014) Tonality as a colonizing force in African music – YouTube. CIRMMT Distinguished Lectures in the Science and Technology of Music.
- BBC Radio Four (1975) Avril Coleridge-Taylor talking about her father in 1974 – YouTube.
- Decus Ensemble (2020) Hidden Sounds Experiment. Exploration of music by 5 Black composers during lockdown.
Recordings
- Black Composers Series – The Complete Album Collection. This Sony box set is a reissue of the 1970s, CBS Masterworks LPs, conducted by Paul Freeman. Although the focus is on African American composers, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Fela Sowande are featured. Performers include the London Symphony Orchestra and Juilliard Quartet.
- Decus Ensemble – Hidden Sounds Experiment EP. Exploration of music by 5 Black composers during lockdown.
Websites
- Africlassical
- Africancomposers.com
- Castles of our Skins – Castle of our Skins is a US-based concert and educational series dedicated to celebrating Black artistry through music.
- #DecoloniseMusicEd – Nate Holder’s site discussing race and music, including resources for teachers
- Google Doodles
- Evelyn Dove (117th birthday commemoration)
- Grassroots Music Network
- Jeffrey Green, historian – Research on Black London history
- Remembering John Blanke – Resource dedicated to the Tudor trumpeter
Broadcasts
- The Listening Service, Is it Canon?: The classical music canon – who decides what’s in and what’s out? Can it and should it change? (14 Aug 2020)
- Music Matters, Race, equality and classical music: Kate Molleson hosts an online panel discussion on issues relating to race and equality within the classical music industry (13 July 2020)
- Sunday Feature, A Racist Music: Errollyn Wallen explores and challenges the legacy of John Powell (1882-1963), a once-celebrated composer whose racist politics scarred the lives of generations of Americans. (24 Nov 2019)
Blog posts and online articles
- Edwards, B. (no date) ‘Una Winifred Atwell Levisohn’, RagPiano.com.
- Ngwe, U. (2019) ‘Curating Diversity in Classical Music | Representing “Classical Music” in the Twenty-First Century’, AHRC Research Network blog.
- Ngwe, U. (2019) ‘My Other Piano’ – the classical side of Winifred Atwell – Sound and vision blog, Sound and Vision Blog.
- Ross, A. (2013) Othello’s Daughter | The New Yorker
Academic journal articles and papers
- Cirio, N.P. (2015) Black Skin, White Music: Afroporteno Musicians and Composers in Europe in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century. Black Music Research Journal 35, 23.
- Hart, W. A. (2017) ‘New Light on George Bridgtower’, The Musical Times, 158, pp. 95–106.
- Rye, H. (2010) ‘Southern Syncopated Orchestra: The Roster’, Black Music Research Journal. University of Illinois Press, 30(1), pp. 19–70. doi: 10.5406/blacmusiresej.30.1.0019.
- Sadoh, G. (2010) ‘African Musicology: A Bibliographical Guide to Nigerian Art Music (1927-2009)’, Notes. Music Library Association, pp. 485–502.
If you’d like to submit or suggest relevant material for addition to this page, please use the contact form.