Obscure Music Mondays

Scott Joplin (c. 1867/68 - April 1, 1917) was an African-American composer and pianist, who came to be known as the "King of Ragtime Writers". Joplin was born in to a family of railroad laborers in Texas, but got as much musical knowledge as he could from local teachers, and ended up  forming a vocal quartet, and teaching mandolin and guitar. He later left for the south to work as a itinerant musician, and eventually found his way up  to Chicago for the World's Fair of 1893, which contributed towards the ragtime craze. Continue reading →

Florence Beatrice Price (April 9, 1887 - June 3, 1953) was an African-American pianist and composer, and the first African-American woman to have a piece played by a major symphony orchestra. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Price's first piano teacher was her mother, a music educator, and Price's first recital was at the age of 4. After high school (which she graduated top of her class), she studied piano and organ at the New England Conservatory, and pretended to be Mexican, due to the stigma that African-Americans faced during that era. She also studied composition and counterpoint with George Chadwick and Frederick Converse, and graduated in 1906 with honors. Continue reading →

James Reese Europe (Feb. 22, 1880 - May 9, 1919) was an African-American bandleader, arranger, violinist, pianist and composer. Continue reading →

Will Marion Cook (Jan. 27, 1869 - July 19, 1944) was an African-American violinist, conductor, and composer born in Washington, D.C. His father was dean of the Howard University School of Law, but died when Cook was ten. He was then sent to live with his maternal grandparents in Chattanooga Tennessee, who were able to buy their way out of slavery. He said that was his "soul period", and where he experienced "real Negro melodies". Continue reading →

Henry Kimball Hadley (Dec. 20, 1871 - Sept. 6, 1937) was an American violinist, composer and conductor, born in to a musical family in Somerville, Massachusetts. Continue reading →

Maria Teresa Carreño Garcia de Sena (Dec. 22, 1853 - June 12, 1917) was a Venezuelan pianist, singer, conductor, and composer. Born in to a musical family, she became known around he world as a virtuoso pianist, often referred to as the "Valkyrie of the piano". Continue reading →

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (Aug. 15, 1875 - Sept. 1, 1912) was born in London, England, to Alice Hare Martin, an English woman, and Dr. Daniel Peter Hughes Taylor, from Sierre Leone. They were not married, and Daniel Taylor returned to Africa before 1875, not even knowing he had a son. Martin named her son after the poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and was raised in Croydon, Surrey by his mother, and her father. Coleridge-Taylor studied violin at the Royal College of Music, and was later on appointed a professor at the Crystal Palace School of Music, and conducted the orchestra at the Croyden Conservatory. Continue reading →

Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (March 19, 1873 - May 11, 1916), known as Max Reger, was German composer, pianist, organist, conductor and teacher. Continue reading →

Sigurd Lie (May 23, 1871 - Sept. 30, 1904) was a Norwegian composer, violinist. and conductor. His parents were musically inclined, and were supportive of Lie's musical studies. Continue reading →

Peter von Winter (Aug. 28, 1754 - Oct. 27, 1825) as a German composer, predominantly known for his operas, and an important step in the development of German opera. Continue reading →