Harry T. Burleigh

Henry Thacker Burleigh

2 December 1866—12 September 1949

Harry T. Burleigh, photo by Fred J. Ramsaier, 1929. Image courtesy of The Archives of the Parish of Calvary, Holy Communion and St. George’s, New York, NY. — **Harry T. Burleigh**, photo by Fred J. Ramsaier, 1929. Image courtesy of The Archives of the Parish of Calvary, Holy Communion and St. George’s, New York, NY.

Stamford, Conn., Sept. 12 (AP)—HARRY T. BURLEIGH, 82, Negro singer who wrote the music for more than 50 spirituals and composed more than 200 songs, died today at a private hospital here. He was best known for his arrangement of “Deep River.” Burleigh was credited by many sources, too, with having been the inspiration for much of the “New World Symphony” composed by Anton Dvořák.

He was a native of Erie, Penn., and came to New York as a young man. Burleigh won a scholarship at the National Conservatory of Music and while a student was appointed baritone soloist at fashionable St. George’s Church. The congregation included the J.P. Morgan family. For many years, each Christmas he sang for the Morgans in their home. He also sang at funeral services for the elder Morgan and the late J.P. Morgan Jr. During a concert tour of Europe he sang before King Edward VII on two occasions.

Burleigh’s “Little Mother of Mine” was sung the world over by John McCormack. Others among his best known works were “Just You,” “The Grey Wolf,” “Ethiopia Saluting the Colors,” “The Young Warrior,” and “The Soldier.” Many critics considered the settings for “The Five Songs of Laurence Hope” Burleigh’s best works. He held an honorary degree of master of arts from Atlanta University, and of doctor of music from Howard University. And when Victor Herbert organized the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (A.S.C.A.P.) in 1914, Burleigh became a charter member.

The Boston Globe, 13 Sept. 1949

Beginning his musical career as a choir singer at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Erie, Pa., he went to New York City in 1892 and earned a scholarship at the National Conservatory of Music. He studied with Christian Fritsch, Rubin Goldmark, John White, and Max Spicker. He was baritone soloist for fifty-two years at St. George’s Church (Episcopal), in New York City, 1894–1946. From 1900 to 1925, he was also soloist at Temple Emanu-El. In 1911, he became music editor for G. Ricordi, publishers, in New York City. Well known as a song composer, he also was most successful as an arranger of Negro spirituals. A charter member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (1914), he was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, for highest achievement by an American citizen of African descent during the year 1916. He was awarded an honorary M.A. degree by Atlanta University and the Mus.D. by Howard University.

by William J. Reynolds
Companion to Baptist Hymnal (1976)

Featured Songs:

Every time I feel the Spirit
Swing low, sweet chariot

McKEE

Collections of Spirituals and Songs:

Plantation Melodies Old & New (1901): HathiTrust

Two Plantation Songs (1902): WorldCat | IMSLP

Negro Minstrel Melodies (1910): PDF

The Celebrated Negro Spirituals

No. 1 (1917–1924): PDF
No. 2 (1917–1925): PDF

Album of Negro Spirituals

High (1917–1928): HathiTrust
Low (1917–1928): HathiTrust

Negro Folk Songs (1921): WorldCat

Old Songs Hymnal (1929): WorldCat

Editions:

The Spirituals of Harry T. Burleigh (Alfred Music, 1984/2007): Amazon

25 Spirituals Arranged by Harry T. Burleigh (Hal Leonard, 2012): Amazon

Recordings:

Robert M.W. Dixon, et al., Blues & Gospel Records 1890–1943, 4th ed. (Oxford: University Press, 1997).

Archives & Manuscripts:

H.T. Burleigh Collection, Emory University:
http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/b6v4w

Marian Anderson Papers, Correspondence, Folder 797, University of Pennsylvania:
https://franklin.library.upenn.edu/catalog/FRANKLIN_9923741803503681

The Archives of the Parish of Calvary, Holy Communion and St. George’s, New York, NY:
https://www.calvarystgeorges.org/

Life & Works:

Natalie Curtis Burlin, “Henry T. Burleigh,” Negro Folk-Songs, Book IV (NY: G. Schirmer, 1919), pp. 8–9: HathiTrust

Charlotte W. Murray, “The Story of Harry T. Burleigh,” The Hymn, vol. 17, no. 4 (October 1966), pp. 101–111: HathiTrust

William J. Reynolds, “Harry Thacker Burleigh,” Companion to Baptist Hymnal (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1976), pp. 275–276.

Eileen Southern, “Henry Thacker Burleigh,” Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1982), pp. 55–57.

Anne K. Simpson, Hard Trials: the Life and Music of Harry T. Burleigh (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1990).

Jean Snyder, “‘A great and noble school of music’: Dvořák, Harry T. Burleigh, and the African-American spiritual,” Dvořák in America 1892–1895 (Portland, OR: Amadeus, 1993), pp. 123–148.

Eileen Southern, The Music of Black Americans: A History, 3rd Ed. (New York, 1997), pp. 269–272: Amazon

Samuel A. Floyd, “The invisibility and fame of Harry T. Burleigh: Retrospect and prospect,” Black Music Research Journal, vol. 24, no. 2 (Autumn 2004), pp. 179–194: JSTOR

Jean E. Snyder, “Harry T. Burleigh, ‘One of Erie's Most Popular Church Singers,’” Black Music Research Journal, vol. 24, no. 2 (Autumn 2004), pp. 195–225: JSTOR

Ann Sears, “A certain strangeness: Harry T. Burleigh’s art songs and spiritual arrangements,” Black Music Research Journal, vol. 24, no. 2 (Autumn 2004), pp. 227–249: JSTOR

Brian Moon, “Harry Burleigh as ethnomusicologist? Transcription, arranging, and the Old Songs Hymnal,” Black Music Research Journal, vol. 24, no. 2 (Autumn 2004), pp. 287–307: JSTOR

Brian Moon, The Old Songs Hymnal: Harry Burleigh and His Spirituals During the Harlem Renaissance, dissertation (Boulder: University of Colorado, 2006).

Jean E. Snyder, Harry T. Burleigh: From the Spiritual to the Harlem Renaissance (Chicago: University of Illinois, 2016): Amazon