Lesser-Known Composer of the Month: Brief Sketches: H. T. Burleigh, patriotic music

Harry T. Burleigh is primarily remembered as an arranger of African-American spirituals, in which role he famously influenced Dvořák's ideas about the nature of an American national music.  His successes as an arranger largely eclipsed the attention he had earlier gained as a composer of original art songs.

Burleigh's early musical training was with his mother and later honed through performance in three church choirs in his hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania.  At age 26, with the encouragement of Frances MacDowell (mother of Edward MacDowell), he won a scholarship to the National Conservatory in New York.  Two years later he became baritone soloist at St. George's Episcopal Church, despite opposition from some of the congregation due to his race.  From 1900–1925 he was also soloist in New York's largest synagogue, Temple Emanu-El.  He also later served as an editor for the New York office of Ricordi, which had the benefit of providing him with a publishing outlet.

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