Discovering American Composers: Harry Lawrence Freeman (Part I)

APU
5 min readMar 11, 2021

--

American composers Mercer part 1

By Dr. Bjorn Mercer
Program Director, Communication, Humanities, Music, Philosophy, Religion and World Languages Programs, American Public University

Note: This article is the first in a multi-part series about American Classical music composers.

Some of the lesser-known American Black Classical music composers were born in the latter part of the 19th century after the Civil War. They lived in a world where not only were they drawn to a music that was firmly European in nature and origin, but they lived in a country that, for all intents and purposes, viewed their achievements only with mild curiosity and skepticism, rather than honest admiration.

In this five-part series, I will investigate Harry Lawrence Freeman, known for writing between 14 and 22 operas (not all were performed and are still in manuscript); and Harry Burleigh, known for his own music and influencing Antonin Dvorak.

The History of Harry Lawrence Freeman

Opera composer Harry Lawrence Freeman is largely unknown to the general public today and relatively unknown to Classical music aficionados. But within the last decade, his music has been rediscovered.

Freeman was born in 1869 into a comfortable family in Cleveland. His father was a carpenter; his mother was known for her singing voice. By his 10th birthday, Freeman was showing musical abilities. He continued to show great musical talent during high school and moved to Denver after graduation.

One of his most influential moments in Denver came while attending a performance of Wagner’s “Tannhäuser.” According to an article in the “Journal of Singing” by Ben Worley: “This memorable work of art changed Freeman’s life forever. Freeman himself confessed that after experiencing ‘Tannhäuser,’ he could not sleep, arose at five o’clock the next morning, and wrote down his first composition.”

While in Denver, Freeman composed his first two operas: “Epithalia” in 1891 and “The Martyr” in 1893. Freeman considered the latter his first grand opera because it followed many of the traditions of German and French grand opera of the 19th century. In the 1890s, Classical music was still dominated by Wagner, Verdi, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky, while the music of Richard Strauss and Claude Debussy would have been considered new, modern, and potentially scandalous.

During this time, Freeman also had some success composing popular music, writing sheet music that got published and sold. The sheet music industry exploded in the late 19th century and was how composers made money before the phonograph came along. In 1899, Freeman married Charlotte Louise Thomas and they had a son, Valdo Lawrence Freeman, the next year.

Freeman then moved back to Cleveland and took composition lessons from Johann Beck, who helped him get more of his compositions performed. Worley notes that these performances in Cleveland were the first time “an African American composer was taken seriously by an all-white, major orchestra in the United States.”

A Progression from Chicago to the Harlem Music Scene

Freeman later moved to Chicago, where he had a teaching post at Wilberforce University. After many years working as a professional musician and developing his musical style and technical abilities, Freeman finally moved to New York.

There is a story that when Freeman was living in New York’s Harlem, he helped out Scott Joplin, the famous ragtime composer who is now considered one of the most influential American composers in the history of American music. According to the story, when Joplin moved to Harlem in 1907, he was mugged. Freeman gave Joplin the coat off his back and took him in as a long-lost friend.

During 1913 and revised in 1924, Freeman wrote “Voodoo,” which was performed on Broadway and on the radio in 1928 to mixed reviews. Although “Voodoois his most famous opera, today only a few arias from the opera are available versus the entire work. They can be found on YouTube by the Morningside Opera Company.

David Gutkin observes in the Journal of the American Musicological Society that in 1928, the White press considered Freeman’s music old-fashioned. It was stylistically out of fashion by 30 years and did not contain much jazz.

To White writers of the time, Freeman was Black so they just assumed and expected jazz to be imbued in his music. When they heard his music that mainly harkened back to the mid-19th century, they were disappointed.

But his reception from the Black press was quite positive, according to Worley. Worley notes, “The African American media praised him for attempting to break down racial barriers that plagued the advancement of African American artists.”

In New York, Freeman opened the Freeman School of Music, the Freeman School of Grand Opera and the Negro Opera Company. Each of these entities was successful in Harlem during the 1920s and even into the 1930s and beyond. His music was performed at Carnegie Hall in 1947.

Although Freeman is not often mentioned in articles about musicians in the Harlem Renaissance, such as Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington, he was part of the musical environment in Harlem.

As stated in Columbia University papers, “All three Freemans became thickly embedded in the cultural life of the Harlem Renaissance, with their brownstone serving as an impromptu salon for figures such as Eubie Blake, Noble Sissle, Marion Anderson, Muriel Rahn, and Lena Horne in later years.”

Freeman’s Work Has Been Overlooked, But Is Being Rediscovered

Because he wrote Classical music and specifically opera with just a little jazz, Freeman is often overlooked today as a substantial contributor to the Harlem Renaissance. When it comes to music, the Harlem Renaissance is remembered for the contributions of blues and jazz musicians rather than for Classical compositions. This means that Freeman, Harry Burleigh, William Grant Still, Marian Anderson, Roland Hayes and some of Paul Robeson’s early contributions have been largely overlooked.

Harry Lawrence Freeman died in 1954 of a heart attack at age 85.

In the next part of this series on “Discovering American Composers,” we will look at the legacy of Harry Lawrence Freeman and the need to further study him and his music.

About the Author

Dr. Bjorn Mercer is a Program Director. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music from Missouri State University, a master’s and doctorate in music from the University of Arizona, and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. He writes about culture, leadership, and why the humanities and liberal arts are critical to career success. Dr. Mercer also writes children’s music.

--

--

APU

#APU expands access to quality #highereducation & prepares our students for #service & #leadership in a diverse & global society.