Signs, Symphonies, Signifyin(g): African-American Cultural Topics as Analytical Approach to the Music of Black Composers

Horace J. Maxile Jr. 


Considering the volume and strength of the recent work in black music scholarship, much work is still needed in many areas, particularly those of scholarly criticism, interpretation, and analysis of concert works by black composers. Certainly, turning our attention to more details of pitch, harmony, rhythm, and form will enlighten our interpretations of works by black composers and fortify the course of black music scholarship. Some illustrative readings may offer a glimpse at meaningful devices and vernacular emblems, but the endeavor of analysis calls for even deeper examinations of expressivity and musical structure. A general call for more analyses is suggested in Catherine Parson Smith's careful reading of the "Scherzo" in William Grant Still's Afro-American Symphony in which she discusses key centers and superimposed pitch collections that speak to a certain "racial doubleness" (Smith 2000). Olly Wilson's concrete explanations of the "art song spirituals" and his own symphonic compositions similarly solicit more scholarly inquiries into the craftsmanship of black composers (Wilson 2006). The following essay focuses on expansions of recent theories and concepts toward the goal of addressing the analysis/ interpretation gap in the concert music of black composers.