Rudolph Dunbar
Rudolph Dunbar | |
---|---|
Nabacalis, British Guiana | |
Died | 10 June 1988 London, United Kingdom | (aged 80)
Genres | Classical, jazz |
Occupation(s) | Conductor, musician, composer, journalist |
Instrument(s) | Clarinetist, and composer |
Rudolph Dunbar (5 April 1899
Biography
Early years
Dunbar was born in
In 1925, Dunbar moved to Paris and between 1927 and 1929 attended the Sorbonne, where he studied conducting with Philippe Gaubert, composition with Paul Vidal, and the clarinet with Louis Cahuzac.[6] In Paris, as Ian Hall wrote, "Madame Debussy, widow of Claude Debussy, invited [Dunbar] to give a private recital at her home in the presence of influential members of the Conservatoire de Musique."[7] According to author John Cowley, Dunbar was in England in 1927, when he joined the Plantation Orchestra for a road tour of the show Blackbirds of 1927.[8] Dunbar also spent time studying in Vienna with Felix Weingartner.[6] His hopes of a degree were ended by the death of his father.[9]
By 1931, Dunbar had settled in London, where he founded the Rudolph Dunbar School of Clarinet Playing.[5] He wrote columns as a technical expert in the Melody Maker for seven years[4] and in 1939 published his Treatise on the Clarinet (Boehm System), which became a standard text about the instrument.[10]
His ballet, Dance of the Twenty-First Century, written for
Dunbar made appearances on the
He was reported as having said: "The success I have achieved through sacrifice and struggle is not for myself, but for all the colored people."[15]
He championed the music of other black composers, particularly the African-American Still, alongside whom he had played in the Harlem Orchestra in the 1920s,[16] and the autograph of Still's Festive Overture of 1944 is dedicated "To my dear friend, Rudolph Dunbar".[16]
Journalism
Dunbar also worked as a journalist. He became London correspondent for the Associated Negro Press news service in 1932, and in 1936 reported for them on debates in the
Later life
Dunbar's music career waned in the post-war period, which he attributed to his ethnicity. He lived most of his later life in London, where he died of cancer in 1988.[5]
In 1975, the Rudolph Dunbar Archive was established as part of the James Weldon Johnson Memorial collection at Yale University.[9]
Writings
- Dunbar, Rudolph (1939). Treatise on the Clarinet (Boehm system). London: J. E. Dallas. OCLC 2322942.
References
- ^ a b "Rudolph Dunbar, a talented international clarinetist with many 'firsts'", African American Registry.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/74922. Retrieved 5 February 2024. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ a b Rudolph Dunbar profile, British Jazz History, Jazz Services.
- ^ a b c d "W. Rudolph Dunbar: Pioneering Orchestra Conductor", The Black Perspective in Music, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Autumn 1981), pp. 193–225.
- ^ a b c d e f Miranda Kaufmann, "Dunbar, Rudolph (1899-10 June 1988)", in David Dabydeen, John Gilmore & Cecily Jones, Oxford Companion to Black British History, 2007.
- ^ a b Bob Shingleton, "Berlin Philharmonic's first Black conductor", On An Overgrown Path, 23 April 2007.
- ^ "Musical pioneer: Guyanese conductor, Rudolph Dunbar". Stabroek News. 10 January 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
- ^ John Cowley, "London is the Place: Caribbean Music in the Context of Empire 1900–60", in Paul Oliver (ed.), Black Music in Britain: Essays on the Afro Asian Contribution to Popular Music, Milton Keynes: Open University Press, 1990, pp. 57–76.
- ^ a b Dominique de Lerma, "Rudolph Dunbar, conductor – On Black Classical Music", The Afro American, 24 June 1978.
- ^ ISBN 9781501759840.
- ^ Michael Thomas: Octaras
- ISBN 0-8078-2944-7.
- ^ J. A. Rogers, "Rudolph Dunbar", in World's Great Men of Color, Volume 2 (1947), Touchstone, 1996, p. 563.
- ^ William H. Stoneman, "Rudolph Dunbar, Good Will Envoy", Chicago Daily News, 19 May 1966. Reprinted in W. Rudolph Dunbar: Pioneering Orchestra Conductor, The Black Perspective in Music, Vol. 9, No. 2, Autumn 1981 (pp. 193–225), p. 225.
- ^ "Conductor's Life Parallels Alger's: Rudolph Dunbar Came Up Hard Way; Now Tops Field", The Afro-American, 1 February 1947.
- ^ ISBN 0-313-25255-6..
External links
- A biography on Rudolph Dunbar on the blog On An Overgrown Path
- Corbis Images, "Rudolph Dunbar Conducting Orchestra. Original caption: 9/25/1945-Berlin, Germany: The Nazi racial prejudice suffered another blow recently when Rudolph Dunbar, brilliant American Negro conductor, led the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra at two concerts in Berlin's Titania Palast. Dunbar, seen conducting during one of the concerts, will leave shortly for Paris where he will conduct a festival of American music in a series of four concert."
- Judith Walkowitz, Nights Out: Life in Cosmopolitan London, Yale University Press, 2012, p. 236: illustration reproducing Dunbar's article "Harlem in London: Year of Advancement for Negroes" from Melody Maker, 7 March 1936 (p. 2).
- Rudolph Dunbar Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.