We did not want this day to come, but after 17 music-filled years with All Classical Portland, Senior Announcer Robert McBride is retiring. Robert’s legacy at the station includes holding a regular air shift in prime time for all 17 years, founding and producing Club Mod (All Classical’s weekly Saturday night program dedicated to modern music), hosting the weekly live broadcast series Thursdays @ Three, contributing to original programs Played in Oregon and Northwest Previews, and regularly leading pre-concert conversations with Music Director Carlos Kalmar before Oregon Symphony Concerts. Robert is beloved by artists, listeners, and fellow broadcasters for his depth of insight, on-air wit, and contagious passion for the music. Here are just a few comments from listeners:

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Robert was not just an on-air announcer.  The pleasure of listening to KQAC is as much the pleasure taken in people like Robert who infuse the music with joy and knowledge.  The music itself is diminished without people like Robert to present it.  When your ‘announcers’ infect the music with their joy of and for the music, I find myself drawn in more than I would just listening it from a CD or recording.  A restaurant’s menu is only as good as the ambiance and service that accompanies the menu – so, too, with 89.9.

We’ll miss you, Robert. Richard and Michele

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My wife and I listen to All Classical all day as we are retired and are at home most of the day, that is, when we are not traveling somewhere in this beautiful world.

Listening to Robert is a joy.  He is a real class act!  We will miss his commentary, his fine radio voice, and his talks at the Oregon Symphony. Please extend our congratulations on his retirement and we wish him much health and happiness.

Enjoy your free time Robert!

Sincerely, Mary and Joe

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Dear Robert,

Daily, from the time I  awaken to the time my eyes close for slumber, I listen to 89.9, enjoying so many of your broadcasts, Robert.  Yes, even at work and in the car.

Just wanted you to know that I admire your wisdom and knowledge in the incredible venue of music, your dedication to your music audience and wish you much happiness in your retirement.

Very sincerely, Maria

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Robert – You are my favorite voice on my favorite radio station! I can’t imagine All Classical without you, but I will adjust. Please know that you will be dearly missed….and please enjoy your retirement!

Thanks, Victoria

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Thank you so much, Robert, for all the comforting hours of listening to you and your all classical music while I work.  I’ve found my best concentration is often when your music is in the background… except, of course, when its opera that is not compatible with thinking.

I miss your soothing voice.

Rob, sustaining donor

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Hi Robert,

The first time I heard Club Mod I stopped what I was doing and invested my full attention in the music. In later programs I stopped what I was doing to listen to your intro and apply it to what I was hearing.

Thank you so very much for your thoughtful and insightful presentation of music that shakes and stirs my soul.

Best Regards, Teresa

P.S. I love the international flavor of Club Mod! Listening to international modern composers makes me happy to be globally engaged in the arts!

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I listen to All Classical much of the time in my retirement in Vancouver and have at least as far back as the late 1980s when I commuted from Beaverton to Vancouver. I enjoy each of the announcers, but Robert was probably my favorite and I miss him already. His clear voice and knowledge made him particularly easy to listen to, although I have to admit that Club Mod was not something I was into, probably because of the time it was on the air. I wish him well in his retirement. And to all the great folks at the station, keep up the great music offerings.

 Jim

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I know these sentiments will be wide spread for Robert who seems to be a pillar at All Classical, but I will truly miss his voice – his calm demeanor and his comments and knowledge, how he interacts with the staff especially during pledge drives – it’s fun to hear his voice and enjoy the comradery. The best to Robert and enjoying his retirement.  I have the feeling that this music will always be part of his life – I know it will always be part of mine and I am so thankful that we have it here in Portland.

I feel that all the staff is very special and care about their work – each one brings a special gift with them.  I’m also so glad that they have a wonderful view of the river now which is perfect for the music they host.

Janeen, sustaining donor

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Robert McBride is truly a man of music. Besides being one of my on-air “friends” at All Classical, his music knowledge has greatly enriched my listening experiences. Being a senior and rather a traditionalist; I have appreciated being educated to modern music by his Club Mod program. While I wish him a rewarding retirement, I hope we will continue to hear his contributions to the Portland music scene from time to time.

“Thanks for the Memories,” Stan

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Back when our youngest son was about six, he was inspired to give his birthday money to the station during pledge break and become a member himself. When we brought him in to make his donation, Robert McBride was so nice to him – showed him around the studio, answered his questions, even asked if he wanted to record a message (he was shy and passed on that). It became a birthday tradition that lasted for several years, and we tried to time our visits so he could say hello to his favorite hosts, Mr. McBride and Mr. Burk when he came in. Thank you for being the warm voice and face that he attached to the music.

Mark

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I became hooked on radio broadcasts of classical music in the early 1990’s when Robert was doing a noontime show on OPB.  I was an itinerant school counselor for Clackamas County ESD driving between schools up in Molalla.  I would eat lunch and listen to Robert while driving to my next school.  What a welcome oasis of beauty his music and his commentaries brought me.

Best wishes on the next phase of your career, Robert!

Marcia

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Robert’s program, Club Mod is perhaps my favorite…

Listener from day one, Dennis

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Dear All Classical,

I was dismayed a while ago when I tuned in to listen to my favorite radio station in order to hear my favorite radio host, Robert McBride, and heard a different voice.  I hoped that he was only on vacation, but then I discovered that he is retiring.  Well earned by him, but how sad for folks like me who gained so much from him.

I was able to hear and experience his charm and wit and knowledge and musical sensitivity last night at the Symphony.  So many of us have remarked over the years about how all of the above traits have been expressed between Carlos and Robert in their conversations.  It is like we are overhearing a conversation in a Viennese Cafe, and feeling very blessed by it.  Only a few more months… sigh.

His physiognomy reminds me of an almost exact replica I once saw on a Grecian urn — a lover of truth and beauty.

All the best to him!

With gratitude and fondness, Diane

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Robert, happy retirement! It’s Great.

It was a pleasure seeing you at the station and listening to you all these years. Good luck always!

Frank & Monica

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I have been tuned in to Robert McBride since I lived in Wyoming and you began streaming online. A knowledgeable voice and calm presence in the midst of a crazy world. Love Club Mod — even on the nights when it kind of makes me shake my head!

Thanks for your work Robert.

Ann

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I have been listening to All Classical now for a few years. I never liked, understood, or listened to classical music before that but I have found that I am falling in love with classical music by not only listening to the music as I drive but by the enthusiasm, knowledge, feelings of “personal friendship”, warm-heartedness, and mentoring I have been receiving and “catching” from wonderful hosts such as Robert McBride. He is truly a gem and a gift to listeners such as myself – and I will miss him greatly. But since I have been so enjoying retirement now for 17 years, I wish the same for him now. Thank you, Robert for your years of making the wonderful music so special to listeners like myself.

Roy

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I’m sad that Robert McBride is retiring. He is by far my favorite male voice/host. He is truly a voice talent!!

Carolyn

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It is very sad for me to hear that Robert will no longer be a daily presence on All Classical!

I first met Robert when he was working at OPB in the mid 90’s and hosted a great couple of hours of great eclectic music in the afternoon.  I was a volunteer for OPB and was organizing the radio reporters files. This was the time before the Internet became ubiquitous and most information was still contained by filing cabinets.

Somehow Robert had heard about my organizing skills and I was asked if I could cast up at his end of OPB and to sort of help organize his space… my first thought was, “how can this guy who has this great program and plays terrific music find anything here, like, what’s the system?”  So I set to work on the floor among the boxes of CD’s.  Robert left OPB not too long after for a position in New York.  Before he left, I had a telephone call, no words were spoken, but what I heard was the 2nd movement from Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A, for me the proof that God exists.  I was in tears.  It was, I think, Robert’s way of thanking me, and it could not have been better.

When Robert came back to Portland and to All Classical, my husband Peter and I were delighted. We have enjoyed his talks at the symphony, chamber concerts, and his daily presence on All Classical. Peter died on February 14, I donated in his memory that very day.  He would have been sad to hear that Robert will be leaving his daily stint.  I wish you well Robert, it has been a pleasure to hear your voice and enjoy your programming.

Lelde

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Years ago one afternoon while driving through Woodburn,

I was listening to the 5^th Symphony of Jean Sibelius. Once it concluded, Robert McBride classified it as being in his

top ten favorite works of the 20^th century… I felt uplifted to have my own tastes intersect with his. My kind of host! Godspeed, Robert.

Patrick

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I’ve much appreciated Robert McBride’s charm, humor and (slightly quirky) wit, so I am very sorry that his voice will be heard less and less on the radio.

I am especially worried about the future of Club Mod: will the show continue to air, with (hopefully) or without Robert McBride? Or shall some altogether new programming continue the (essential) task of showcasing modern and contemporary music on this station?

Regards, Philippe

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Robert, I will miss your radio personality very much.

Pat

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This is the curse of longevity – all one’s friends die and all one’s favorites in every possible field either retire or also die.

Robert has been my favorite ever I first listened to him many years ago, after moving to this blessed state… Please tell him that I wish him godspeed and may he enjoy the life to the fullest!

Malle

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Robert,

When I was doing my old “Choral Classics” program on All Classical at the former location at Benson High School, it was a joy to talk with you often.  I was somewhat taken aback when you called me “Doctor,” as I’m not a doctor of anything, but a humble, old retired parish priest in the Episcopal Church who got bit by the radio-bug and volunteered to host the choral program.  Your art of programming is inimitable and I never got up the courage to ask you for help in that area.  “Aw, he’ll probably say ‘no way’ to me if I ask … or ‘Go away, don’t bother me!'”  Instead I settled for your friendship during that six years I hung around the studio, and hoped I didn’t get in your way.

Later, in the “new digs” by the river, I got to see you at work in the new, state-of-the-art studio.  And, of course, I have enjoyed your shows “Club Mod” and “Thursdays at Three”; I even attended one of the Thursdays when some members of the Bach Cantata Choir in which I still sing were performing on your program.  And I’ll always remember and be grateful to see you at the BCC concert at St Mary’s Church in Mount Angel a few years ago when the Portland Symphonic Choir performed the Rachmaninoff “Vespers.”  I sang with PSC then.

I’m sorry we won’t hear your dulcet tones on KQAC (I still want to say KBPS!) after you hang up your earphones.  You have contributed mightily to the whole thing, bringing the best in classical music to our ears wherever we are; and with your excellent programming skills to enhance it.

Peace be yours!

Phillip Ayers (Host of “Choral Classics” on All Classical, 2001-2007)

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How I am already missing Robert!!

I moved to Beaverton in 1998 and, of course, started listening to All Classical immediately. For the past 17 years I have thoroughly enjoyed Robert’s hosting and his beautiful on-air voice.

Robert, we wish you all the best as you celebrate retirement. We will miss you more than words can describe!

Sincerely, Karen and Robert

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I just saw that Robert will be retiring in March.  I am sorry about this and will miss him a lot. I have lived in a number of major cities (Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, New York) and have really not experienced anything like the quality of hosts and programming, community involvement, sincere commitment and love that All Classical represents. The truly unique aspect of the station hosts is their own careers and talents in the music we love. I wish Robert the best in whatever comes next and hope we will hear about his future endeavors from time to time.

Thank you to all involved. As you know, in these times All Classical is a refuge and therapy.

Judy, sustaining donor

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I was fortunate, long ago, to spend an evening with Robert.  We were both at an “event” and I recall recognizing his voice.  He and our family shared a table and a very fun evening with fabulous food inspired by a movie.   I am sure there are current versions of THE BIG NIGHT celebrations out there, but as I recall, it was a delight to share the evening with Robert at Cozze on SE 12th and Morrison, one of the originals in the area to offer this celebration of the movie in a Portland area restaurant. Peter has since moved to Astoria and opened a Fulios, and more recently retired. I would like to “shout out” to both Peter Roscoe and Robert McBride to the memory, and to celebrating life, music, food and spontaneous encounters!

I am happy for Robert and his retirement, and I hope that he will stay in touch, but I do want him to know that listeners of All Classical will surely miss him on a daily basis.  His calm and inspiring voice, knowledge and love of music will be missed.

from google search: As part of the “Big Night” celebration, Peter Roscoe, chef and owner of Fulio’s Pastaria and Tuscan Steakhouse in Astoria, will be cooking a special “Big Night dinner.” When Big Night first premiered in 1996, Roscoe was inspired to host a weekly recreation’s of the film’s elaborate banquet meal at his Portland restaurant, Cozze. “It became a runaway hit for me,” Roscoe says. “Still to this day, I get people visiting Astoria who talk about those dinners.”

Peggy

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Hi Robert,

We have been listening to AllClassical since moving to the Portland metro area in 2002. It may have been difficult to decide to leave the station. Being retired, I appreciate the freedom you may have after leaving… but, who knows what’s around the corner.

I met you briefly at a Michala Petri concert at Reed Collage, probably 2011 or 2012. It was enjoyable to experience, in person, the tremendous love and knowledge of classical music we have enjoyed for so many years.

Have also appreciated how comfortable you help other announcers feel when together during support drives. The station seems like a cast of very interesting characters who all love classical music, whom we enjoy every day.

Am sure you will have many well-wishers to read through. So here’s wishing enjoyment & success in any and all future adventures.

Best Regards, John and Carole

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I am a classical buff been one for years and I just got word that Robert McBride will be probably retiring soon from 89.9 All Classical Portland. I will miss his work and everything that he has done for All Classical Portland. Still what a great wonderful person he is.

Sincerely, Tony

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As a graduate of Beaverton High School, you may remember Mother Miles of Arrowwood Lane.  Yes, she is still alive at 101 and every night when we put her to bed, we put on All Classical because she wants to Listen to Robert!  Thank you for entertaining her (and me since I returned home from New Zealand).  Enjoy your partial retirement.  I have also just re-retired.   It’s hard to stop!   All the best for a fun and creative retirement and we look forward to seeing you at the June Luncheon for the Golden Grads!

Cheers, Kathie, class of 1960 BHS

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Dear Robert, you brought me to All Classical with your beautiful voice and presence on the air.  Once hooked, I began to learn from your wisdom and enthusiasm, and looked forward to hearing you every day. Though you have surely earned what I hope will be a happy and rich retirement, I will miss you more than I can say. All the best to you!

Terri, sustaining donor

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I’m sorry to read that Robert McBride is retiring.  I got to know him on the All Classical tour of Scotland and Ireland in October of 2016.  He is such a nice man, and he has the best radio voice.

First Robert Siegel, now Robert McBride?  I hope there are younger people with mellifluous radio voices.

Sincerely, Isaac

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I am 87 years old and have listened to classical music since the age of 5. It still captures my soul, even more so than ever before.

To Mr. McBride, I’ll only say that you truly are near the top of my list of the best of all the pros I have heard in Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver, and Portland. You are a tremendous educator, enchanting conversationalist, and spirited explorer in the world of classical music. Thank you! You will be missed by all your listeners and co-workers.

What an honor for you to carry with you! Have a safe and healthy retirement, Robert.

Sincerely yours, Robert

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I have been listening to Robert McBride for decades, and his retirement feels like losing a friend. His insights into music, humor on the air, and company throughout the day is sorely missed. Among his other contributions, as the founding host of Thursdays @ Three, Robert brought something new, wonderful, and lasting to All Classical. Good luck Robert. Enjoy your retirement! And thank you for being such a big part of my life and the lives of so many others in Portland and around the world.

Laure

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That is sad news. His calm demeanor and playful banter with Christa in the morning will be missed. I’ve moved to Los Angeles and haven’t been able to listen in quite so often, but he was a kind presence on your station for the ten years I listened. Thank you, Robert. May your retirement be a blessing and peaceful.

David

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I am so sad that Robert McBride is retiring.  He is my favorite voice on the station.  His mother was right.  I believe she said he belonged on the radio.

Linda

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I discovered KQAC and Robert McBride half a decade ago or so while working in a law office. I remember Robert’s on-air appreciation of James DePreist after the conductor’s passing, and I was so moved by his tribute that I emailed to thank him. In the years since, I’ve listened often when I could to his daily shifts behind the microphone. Alas, I came late to Club Mod, which I have tremendously enjoyed these last few months. I will be listening to the finale on Saturday.

I offer my best wishes to him and thank him and All Classical Portland for the many hours of pleasure you have provided.

Best wishes in retirement, Michael

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Congratulations to Robert!  Glad to hear he’ll still be helming the Club Mod show (for a little while) and hope he finds many other avenues in the Portland scene.

Tom

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The following dedications were made to Robert McBride during All Classical Portland’s recent Lovefest Fundraiser:

 

Peggy in North Portland: “to Robert McBride, and all the staff”

 

Barre in SW Portland: “Honoring Robert McBride. Missing him already!”

 

Ginger in Vancouver: “THIS IS DEDICATED TO ROBERT MCBRIDE.”

 

Lynne in NE Portland: “For Robert McBride. To say that I will miss him on the air, is inadequate. BUT, I will carry forward his gift for appreciating music. Robert’s ability to communicate his own well-informed knowledge through his own personal expression has given me access to the music at a deeper level. Thank you, Robert”

 

Bill in NE Portland: “Our donation is dedicated to Robert McBride whom we have enjoyed listening to for *many* years. We wish him a very happy retirement. And Jan and I are celebrating 52 years of being together. Wahoo! Bill”

 

Janyce in NE Portland: “I have been missing Robert McBride. I am going to miss him after his retirement. This donation is in his honor. Whenever I donate, someone usually calls to say thank you. That is very unusual. I appreciate those calls. It is a very nice personal touch. Yesterday, I wanted to find out why Robert was no longer on the air. I went to your website. It was incredible to read the bios of everyone and see their faces. The backgrounds you all have are very impressive. The whimsy you include about your lives are great details as well.”

 

Merrit in Milwaukie: “I give this in honor of Robert McBride, who helped get this broken-down, grumpy, old, EX-mailman through some long afternoons the last 8 years of my career. Happy Retirement, Robert!”

 

Nancy in SW Portland: “Dedicated, of course, to Robert McBride. -sniffle”

In our third installment for Black History Month, we turn to William Levi Dawson (1899-1990), a renowned African-American composer, choir director, and professor. Dawson wrote chamber music, orchestral music, and choral music, and is best known for his arrangements of African American spirituals. Through all the forms he worked with, Dawson consistently incorporated African American themes and melodies into his music. In both his work and teaching, Dawson stressed that while African American musical heritage was key to many developments in jazz and jazz-derived music, it didn’t need to be limited to just these popular forms.

Dawson’s life took a multifaceted and variegated path, but education always remained his primary dedication. Born in Anniston, Alabama, Dawson ran away from home at the age of 13 to attend the Tuskegee Institute. There, he sang in the choir, played trombone in the college band, and started composing at age 16. After graduating in 1921, Dawson went on to study composition at the Horner Institute of Fine Arts in Kansas City, where he convinced the then all-white school to allow him to earn his BA through one-on-one tutoring sessions. Dawson later earned his master’s degree in composition from the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. Dawson began teaching in the Kansas City public school system, and in 1930 was invited back as a professor at the Tuskegee Institute, where he played an integral role in founding the music school. There, Dawson also developed the Tuskegee Institute Choir, which became an internationally acclaimed ensemble, performing tours around the U.S. after their initial invitation to sing at New York City’s Radio Music Hall in 1932.

I talked to Dr. Gwynne K. Brown, Associate Professor of Music History at the University of Puget Sound, who is carrying out research on Dawson. Dr. Brown, currently writing a book on Dawson’s life and works for the American Composers Series published by University of Illinois Press, commented that a major theme for thinking about Dawson is the centrality of education in his life. As Dr. Brown describes: “He ran away from home as a young teenager to attend Tuskegee Institute, and he left a promising career as a trombonist in Chicago to return to Tuskegee in 1930 and create a school of music there. He was a devoted teacher and mentor to many young black musicians. He knew that the rigorous training he could provide, along with helping them to develop their self-discipline and resilience and ambition, he could help make sure that their talents and potential wouldn’t go to waste in a society that was ready to undervalue and discourage them. After he resigned from Tuskegee in 1955 he spent more than three decades sharing his knowledge and musicianship with young musicians of all races all over the country.” 

Indeed, after Dawson retired from teaching at Tuskegee in 1956, he spent much of his time conducting choral festivals and leading workshops around the world. Dawson was deeply committed to his art and had high standards for the students he worked with. In Dawson’s rehearsal notes for members of the All-Eastern Division Chorus in the 1961 Music Educators National Convention, he writes: “There will be no time to teach notes, rhythms, or pronunciations. All rehearsal time will be needed for fine points of performance such as interpretation, style and polish. Start learning now!” As a conductor Dawson asked for precision and attention to detail from his choirs. What set Dawson apart from other teachers, however, was his dedication to educating his choirs on the historical legacy and the proper singing techniques of the genre of spirituals. We’ll explore Dawson’s spirituals here, but first, let’s explore one of Dawson’s most well-known pieces for orchestra: his Negro Folk Symphony.

 

Listening to Dawson: The Negro Folk Symphony

 

One of Dawson’s keystone works is his Negro Folk Symphony, a significant yet largely unacknowledged contribution to the development of the American symphony. The Negro Folk Symphony was premiered in 1934 by the Philadelphia Orchestra with Leopold Stokowski conducting. It was Dawson’s aim to “to write a symphony in the Negro folk idiom, based on authentic folk music but in the same symphonic form used by the composers of the [European] romantic-nationalist school.” Inspired by Antonín Dvořák’s views towards nationalism in music, Dawson wanted his symphony to shed light on the African American voice, highlighting the music of his neighbors and ancestors alike in rural Alabama and the segregated South. Later in 1952, after a recent trip to West Africa, Dawson revised the piece to include more African rhythms, stating a desire to convey “the missing elements that were lost when Africans came into bondage outside their homeland.”

The Negro Folk Symphony sounds akin to late-Romantic orchestral music in terms of overall shape and instrumentation. However, as musicologist John Andrew Johnson describes, “Each of its three movements, while cast in a traditional form, is ultimately not controlled by these predetermined structures; rather, a continuous process of variation and development shapes its course.” Each movement has its own subtitle: “The Bond of Africa,” “Hope in the Night” and ”O, le’ me shine, shine like a Morning Star!” Dawson weaves characteristic melodies from African American folk songs and spirituals throughout each movement. While the piece can be appreciated without previous familiarity with the melodies or underlying background, there are strong programmatic elements in the piece that tie in with the titles of the movements.

 

 

The first movement, for example, “The Bond of Africa,” contains two related main themes. The first theme is original material by Dawson and represents the “missing link” from “a human chain when the first African was taken from the shores of his native land and sent into slavery.” The second theme, initially heard in the oboes, is based on the folk song ”Oh, m’ Lit’l’ Soul Gwine-A Shine.” Dawson incorporates some distinct techniques for programmatic effects in the second movement, as well. Tolling bells bring about an atmosphere of grief and lament, with a background of pizzicato strings representing the lives of slaves in bondage. Three gong strokes denote the Trinity, a symbol of hope guiding man through the night. In the third movement of the Negro Folk Symphony, Dawson takes on a lighter perspective. Here, he incorporates two African American melodies, “O Le’ Me Shine, Le’ Me Shine Lik’ A Mornin’ Star” and “Hallelujah, Lord, I Been Down Into the Sea” to illustrate a scene of children playing, unmoored by the despair of their slave heritage.

The Negro Folk Symphony is one of Dawson’s seminal achievements as a composer, but it remains relatively unknown today. In asking Dr. Brown about aspects of Dawson’s career that often go underappreciated or unacknowledged, she expressed to me that “many of Dawson’s choral works are routinely performed by high school and college and church choirs, so his legacy in that regard is firmly established. I do wish that more people had a chance to hear his Negro Folk Symphony. It is an American masterpiece. In my view, it should be in heavy rotation in the repertoire alongside the symphonies of Florence Price and William Grant Still. Every other time an American orchestra is about to program a symphony by Dvorak, they should stop and choose Dawson’s instead, or one of Price’s or Still’s.” (Stay tuned for our next post, which will kick off Woman’s History Month by featuring the works of Florence Price as well as several other noteworthy women composers).

All Classical will be featuring Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony on the air this Sunday (2/25) at about 6:30pm, so be sure to tune in then!

 

Dawson’s Spirituals

 

As Dr. Brown mentioned above, Dawson’s arrangements of spirituals remain popular among choirs. Songs including “Ain’-a That Good News,” “King Jesus is a-Listening,” and “I’ve Been Buked,” are regularly performed and recorded by choirs around the world. Dawson’s love for African American folk music emerged from a young age, having heard them in church, local concerts, and at home. Dawson spent hours playing with folk melodies, creating idiomatic settings that make full use of the human voice and adding new rhythmic elements to them.

African American spirituals themselves originated in slave plantations, where singing was the only way slaves could express themselves musically. Slaves often sang at religious gatherings, which served for slaves as a conduit of free expression. It was the intention of white masters to use religion as a means of controlling slaves, with preachers brought into plantations to preach to slaves on the “evils” of running away or disobeying masters. However, religion became an important means for slaves to speak out against their oppression and for hopes of freedom. In both their religious gatherings and in work settings, slaves imbued their songs with code words that allowed them to communicate messages to each other without the masters’ knowledge. The word “home,” for example, was an expression of yearning to escape and live in a free land. A chariot or train represented the means of traveling home. (Songs such as “Gospel Train” and “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” were references to the Underground Railroad). Crossing the Jordan River referred to crossing the Ohio River and into the North, where freedom could be found.

Dawson’s arrangements of traditional African American spirituals are classified as “concert” spirituals. The concert spiritual began with the 1871 tour of the Fisk Jubilee Singers of Fisk University, who gave performances across the country to raise funds for the school. The primary material this group used for their concerts were formal settings of traditional slave melodies, but sung in a style associated with European art music. Unlike anonymous and improvisatory folk song spirituals, concert spirituals are crafted, written-down pieces intended to be performed by classically-trained voices. One might compare the African American spiritual to European counterparts such as the French chanson, the German lied, the English lute song, and the Italian madrigal. Spirituals are generally intended for non-religious concert performances rather than sacred use in church services, but they can have religious texts or deal with religious subjects.

During the time Dawson was emerging as a young composer, professional touring ensembles from historical black colleges were beginning to face struggles due to budget retractions from the Depression and changing music fashions in pre-World War II America. Dawson’s Tuskegee Choir, which he led from 1931-55, brought about a resurgence in popularity for spirituals. Dawson’s arrangements were unique in that they brought a more vigorous style of singing to spirituals. There is a sense of rhythmic momentum in arrangements like Ezekiel saw de wheel, Ev’ry Time I feel the spirit, and Ain’-a That Good News! that recall the tradition of slaves singing in a ring shout. Ring shouts, often performed by slaves after the conclusion of a regular worship service, was an expression of their African roots. Men and women arranged themselves in a ring, dancing in a circle at a faster and faster pace until individuals reached an ecstatic state and dropped out in exhaustion. In Dawson’s arrangements, the rhythmic energy accumulates in a similar way, with richly voiced extended harmonies closing out each phrase in ecstatic jubilance.

Spirituals, including Dawson’s are typically performed with a distinctively Southern diction. Early composers of spirituals would often write the lyrics in the actual regional dialect. For example, ending consonants are softened, and final “r” consonants are modified to “h” (“over,” for instance, becomes “ovah”). This may have looked disrespectful to a performer in the post-Civil Rights era. Ultimately, however, composers incorporated this diction in their settings with intent of preserving and celebrating the unique quality of speech of a unique group of people in unique place and time. Commenting on a paper she wrote entitled “The Serious Spirituals of William L. Dawson,” Dr. Brown described to me how Dawson “crafted his choral spirituals with incredible care to make sure that they wouldn’t be performed or interpreted as humorous. Thanks to the legacy of blackface minstrelsy, there was a tendency in the early 20th century for white audiences to perceive all black music-making as comical. It’s fascinating to see Dawson’s strategic defusing of that danger through the way he handled spirituals in his compositions. He really valued the religious folk song heritage of his enslaved ancestors, and he cared both that they be taken seriously by white audiences, and that they not be abandoned by African American musicians who felt the songs were too demeaned to be worth saving.”

”I have never doubted the possibilities of our music,” Dawson once told an interviewer. Dawson’s works bridged the gap between listeners, having been known and loved by black and white audiences alike. If you are eager to jump into Dawson’s sound world, listed below are some suggested recordings of his orchestral and choral works:

Still: Symphony No. 2, Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony / Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Contains Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony

Steal Away: The African American Concert Spiritual / Seraphic Fire, Patrick Dupré Quigley, Piano and Conductor
Contains Dawson’s arrangements Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit and There is a Balm in Gilead

 

The Glory of the Father / Washington County Chorale, Bernd R. Kuehn, Conductor
Contains Dawson’s Ain’-A That Good News

 

References

1. Brown, Gwynne K. Personal Interview. 17 Feb 2018.
2. Emory University, “A Life’s Journey,” William Levi Dawson: The Collection at Emory, 18 Jan 2008. Web. Accessed 12 Feb 2018. http://wayback.archive-it.org/6324/20130124150530/http://larson.library.emory.edu/dawson/web/
3. Huff, Vernon Edward. “William Levi Dawson: An Examination of Selected Letters, Speeches, and Writings.” Arizona State University, Doctoral dissertation. May 2013. Web. Accessed 20 Feb 2018. https://repository.asu.edu/attachments/110287/content/Huff_asu_0010E_12647.pdf
4. Lloyd, Thomas. “A History of the African-American Spiritual: Dawson and the Emergence of Large Mized Choirs in the Historical Black Colleges.” Bucks County Choral Society. Aug 2004. Web. Accessed 12 Feb 2018. http://www.buckschoral.org/news-and-archives/resources/spiritual-history/chapter-11/
5. Pratt, Micheal. “The African-American Spiritual and its African Roots” Music for the Soul. 3 Sept 2009. Accessed 12 Feb 2018. https://michaelpratt.wordpress.com/2009/09/03/the-african-american-spiritual-and-its-african-roots/
6.  Quigley, Patrick Dupré. Steal Away: The African American Concert Spiritual / Seraphic Fire, Patrick Dupré Quigley, Piano and Conductor. CD liner notes.
7. “William Levi Dawson, African American Composer & Professor.” AfriClassical.com. 1 Jan 2016. Web. Accessed 12 Feb 2018. https://chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/Dawson.html
8. “William L. Dawson, Composer, 90.” The New York Times. 4 May 1990. Web. Accessed 20 Feb 2018. http://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/04/obituaries/william-l-dawson-composer-90.html

Here at All Classical Portland, we have our own library of CDs which we draw from to use in our day-to-day radio programming. However, rather than playing these CDs directly on the radio, volunteers first burn each CD into our hard drives, where we can use them on-air  in the form of .wav files. One of my current tasks as an intern is to edit .wav files of pieces that have been burned into the computer but are still not quite ready for air play. Using a music editing software, I listen to each piece and edit the amount of silence that occurs before a piece starts, after it ends, and between movements of pieces like concertos and symphonies. This task is important because there are often up to four or five seconds of silence before sound starts on a CD track. I edit each piece to begin with just the right amount of pause for the radio host to press play after announcing the piece, and set the stage for the start of the music.

 

Measuring the moments of silence that bookend a piece got me thinking about the crucial role that silence plays in our experience of listening to classical music. Music, of course, is made up of sounds, but it is also characterized by the silences that happen between the sounds. The silence that takes place within a piece of music can create profound effects – effects of surprise, humor, fear, or a sense of expanded time and space. Sometimes these moments of silence are tiny, even unnoticeable to a listener. Other times, they can interrupt the flow of music and shock a listener into a new level of awareness. Throughout the history of classical music, many composers have realized that silence can be just as expressive as sound, holding different philosophies towards their use of silence as a tool to create different effects on the listener. Let’s explore some of those effects here.   

  

Silence as Surprise: Joseph Haydn, String Quartet Op. 33 No. 2, “The Joke,” IV. Presto (1781) 

 

 

 

Haydn’s music is filled with humor and wit, and one of his common tricks is to manipulate silence in his pieces, which deliberately thwarts listeners’ expectations of what will happen next within his otherwise predictable and logically organized forms. One of Haydn’s more famous uses of silences occurs at the end of his second opus 33 string quartet, nicknamed “the Joke.”   

 

The final movement, “Presto,” has a rondo form, containing a recurring main melody that alternates with contrasting themes. Haydn’s main melody is a buoyant tune comprised of four two-measure phrases. After several variations on the theme and a slower Adagio passage, Haydn starts up the theme again in its original form to close out the piece. This is where the “joke” of the piece happens – Haydn now splits up the tune into its four smaller components, with a two-bar rest between each one. When the melody finally ends, the piece appears to be over. Unsuspecting audience members might start to applaud, only to stop in confusion when the music starts back up again after a four-measure rest. The quartet plays the first half of the melody, but fails to finish out the phrase, leaving the audience hanging in suspense. As an uncertain and awkwardly hilarious silence fills the hall, the audience breathes out in relief and laughter as the quartet finally sets their bows down.   

 

Silence as Release: Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings (1936) 

 

 

 

In contrast to the Haydn example above, silence can also be used for the opposite effect, creating a moment of space, relieving the audience and releasing tension built up after sound has said all it can possibly say. One example of silence as an act of release can be found in Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, which was originally composed as an Adagio movement in his String Quartet, Op. 11. The piece outlines an arc that travels from hushed sadness to intense grieving, and finally back to silence. The entirety of the 8-minute work develops out of a stepwise melody stated at the start of the piece. The music progressively builds in intensity via denser textures, stronger dynamics, and ascending registers in the strings.   

 

 At one point, the intensity reaches such a level of agonized pain that the strings appear unable to go any further, stuck on a note in the melody that gets louder and louder until it is thrown off into complete silence, creating a climax of emotional catharsis. (This moment happens at about 5:23-6:05 in the above recording by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, but I recommend listening to the whole piece for the full effect). Echoes of the climax note are left resonating in the empty space before the strings begin again in a quiet understatement, slowly dying away to the end of the piece with a new sense of peace and resignation. One of our hosts here at All Classical Portland, Christa Wessel, often says on air that classical music can serve as a “respite from the ruckus of the world.” The impact of this silence in Barber’s Adagio for Strings, a moment to sigh and catch one’s breath, is one of those magical places of respite you can enter into that can never be explained completely by words.   

 

Silence as Interval: Toru Takemitsu’s The Dorian Horizon (1966) 

 

 

The silence in Barber’s Adagio for Strings serves as a turning point, marking a moment between the climax of the piece the gradual descent to the end. This notion of silence as an interval between two events was key to the compositional technique of Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996), a Japanese composer known for his works which synthesized Western classical forms and experimental 20th century techniques with traditional Eastern sounds and instruments.  

 

Takemitsu was skilled in subtlety manipulating orchestral colors using unusual percussion, electronics, spatial arrangements of instruments, and silence, imbuing music with a sensuality he believed it had lost. Takemitsu’s use of silence in particular was heavily informed by the Japanese aesthetic of ma. Ma is an everyday word from the Japanese language that incorporates various meaning of space and time – the space between two structural parts, the gap between two events in time. Ma is a type of emptiness, an interval of in-between, or a negative space. Ma can be seen in various aspects of Japanese culture, such as the deliberate pause at the end of a bow before coming back up, or the honoring of pauses and silence in conversation. Ma is a core concept underlying Japanese art forms, including architecture, gardens, sumi-e brush painting, and Noh theater. For music, Ma is the silence between all notes.   

 

The empty space of ma is not a void, but an energy filled with possibility. This sense of possibility can be heard in the silences of Takemitsu’s 1966 piece The Dorian Horizon. The Dorian Horizon is a collage of varying orchestral textures, some dissonant and grating, some soft and gentle. Each sound event is separated in space and time by intervals of silence or near silence. Sometimes this silence is absolute, creating a sense of space and sparseness. Other times, the silence is colored with deep ominous drones in the cello and bass, creating an atmosphere of claustrophobia and unease. In his own writings, Takemitsu defined ma as “the powerful silence.” Throughout The Dorian Horizon, it is the silences from which the events of sound arise, more than harmony or form, that create a sense of tension and resolution.  

 

Silence as Sound: John Cage’s 4’33“ (1952) 

 

 

Early on in Takemitsu’s career as a composer, he was preoccupied with absorbing Western European orchestral music into his idiom. In his later years, however, Takemitsu found himself returning to experimentation with Japanese instruments and music styles. He credited this return in part to his contact with John Cage, who’s own artistic philosophy was greatly influenced by Japanese art and thought.   

 

One cannot discuss silence in music without addressing John Cage, who proposed the radical notion that there is no such thing as silence. Cage expressed his artistic philosophy through his compositions, but also through a series of essays and performative lectures throughout his life which are summarized in his book Silence: Lectures and Writings. As Cage describes in Silence, artists have always wanted their work to mean something, to do something. Cage, rather, aspired to be meaningless through his work. For Cage, that idea that art is useless and it expresses nothing is the very source of its strength. He declares in his “Lecture on Nothing,” “I have nothing to say and I am saying it and that is poetry as I need it.”   

 

Silence, in a way, became Cage’s symbol of this profound meaninglessness. Arguably Cage’s most famous (or infamous) work is his 4’33”, a three-movement work composed in 1952. 4’33”‘s score consists of three blank pages. The performer is instructed not to play their instrument throughout all three movements, which are to be timed with a stopwatch. Such a concept may seem like a gimmick, but unlike Haydn’s motivations in his Op. 33 quartet, Cage did not intend for 4’33” to be treated as a joke. 4’33” is a piece comprised entirely of silence – or is it? Without any notes to latch onto, the listener starts to become aware of the sounds in the environment around them – the uncomfortable rustling of clothes, the ever-present hum of the air conditioning, the traffic outside, even the thoughts running through their head.  According to Cage-ian scholar Kyle Gann, 4’33” represents “an act of framing, of enclosing environmental and unintended sounds in a moment of attention in order to open the mind to the fact that all sounds are music.” And indeed, in a recollection of the premiere, Cage describes: “You could hear the wind stirring outside during the first movement. During the second, raindrops began pattering the roof, and during the third people themselves made all kinds of interesting sounds as they talked or walked out.” Through the conduit of silence, Cage gave countless musicians and performers permission to go beyond the limitations of standard instrumentation and embrace all sounds as music.   

 

 After the Last Note 

 

One of my favorite moments to experience in classical music concerts is witnessing the very last note of a piece. As the final chord hangs in the air, the reverberations gradually dissipate through the concert hall. In that moment before the applause, it is as if the entire audience is holding their breath together in suspense and awe. Each listener was taken on a different emotional journey while listening to the piece just played, but in this moment everyone has arrived in the same place. Then, as the conductor lowers their baton, there is sudden exhale of relief. The hall once again resonates with life; this time not with the tones of instruments, but with the warm rush of applause and elated “bravos.”   

 

Even though the radio is not quite the same as a live concert, I feel that the hosts at All Classical are also sensitive to this special moment after a piece ends. When I edit the length of silence at the end of a piece, it is my job to create a fade out with a generous six seconds of silence after the last note ends. This gives the radio host the freedom to let the resonance of the last sounds and the emotional weight of the piece settle in with the listener before announcing the conclusion of the piece and moving on to the next track of the day’s program.  

 

By holding that precious space of silence with their listeners before speaking again, an All Classical host acts like the conductor in a concert, holding the baton up in the air before lowering it as a signal of finality, welcoming in applause from the audience. While everyone listens and experiences the station in their own way, I often personally feel that when listening to radio I am not truly listening alone. Rather, I am listening simultaneously with thousands of other people also tuned into the station.  Maybe this is why when a piece ends on All Classical I get that same feeling of shared suspense and relief as I experience in concerts.  

 

 

In the concert hall, on the radio, and in our daily lives, where does the sound end, and when does the silence begin? Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky died only nine days after the premiere of his Sixth Symphony, the “Pathetique.”* Like the man himself, the end of the final movement fades away into complete silence. In the last few measures, the only sounds come from muted cellos and basses playing a low, deep B minor chord and sounding as if coming from some distant, far-off place. In the last measure of the symphony, Tchaikovsky places a rest sign with a fermata (a musical “pause”). The piece concludes in open-ended silence, merging in with the ambience of the concert hall and the energy of the audience members. When does the piece end, and when does life begin again? The conductor lowers their arms, but a heaviness remains.  

 

How do you experience silence in classical music? Let us know by emailing intern@allclassical.org.  

*The Oregon Symphony will be performing Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, along with Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in Salem on Friday, February 9 at 8:00pm at the Smith Auditorium and in Portland on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, February 10, 11, and 12 all at 7:30pm at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Visit the OSO website for details and tickets.  

 

References 

1. “Adagio for Strings.” The Kennedy Center. Web. Accessed 7 Feb 2018. http://www.kennedy-center.org/artist/composition/3215  
2. Canning, Donna. “Ma.” Unique Japan. Web. Accessed 7 Feb 2018. http://new.uniquejapan.com/ikebana/ma/  
3. Davis, Ian. “Loud Silence and Quiet Sound: The Illuminating Music of Toru Takemitsu.” Flypaper. 20 Oct 2016. Web. Accessed 7 Feb 2018. https://flypaper.soundfly.com/discover/loud-silence-quiet-sound-the-illuminating-music-of-toru-takemitsu/  
4. Kaye, Colin. “Classical Connections: The Sound of Silence.” Pattaya mail. 23 Sept 2015. Web. Accessed 7 February 2018. http://www.pattayamail.com/arts-entertainment/classical-connections-the-sound-of-silence-51527  
5. Reel, James. “Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet No. 30 in E flat major (“Joke”), Op. 33/2, H. 3/38.” AllMusic.com. Web. Accessed 7 Feb 2018. https://www.allmusic.com/composition/string-quartet-no-30-in-e-flat-major-joke-op-33-2-h-3-38-mc0002369852  
6. Ross, Alex. “Searching for Silence: John Cage’s art of noise.” The New Yorker. 4 Oct 2010. Web. Accessed 25 Jan 2018.  https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/10/04/searching-for-silence   
7. Ross, Alex. “Toward Silence: The intense repose of Toru Takemitsu.” The New Yorker. 5 Feb 2007. Web. Accessed 7 Feb 2018. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/02/05/toward-silence  
8. Swafford, Jan. “Silence Is Golden: How a pause can be the most devastating effect in music.” Slate.com. 31 Aug 2009. Web. Accessed 25 Jan 2018.  http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/music_box/2009/08/silence_is_golden.html   
9. “The most crushing, perfectly placed silences in classical music.” Classic FM. 15 Jan 2016. Web. Accessed 25 Jan 2018.  http://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/latest/best-silences-in-music/   
10. “Toru Takemitsu.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Web. Accessed 7 Feb 2018. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Takemitsu-Toru