Warfield, William Jones, Arthur C

Description

William Warfield recounts his early experiences of studying music with well-known artists such as Robert Nathaniel Dett and Paul Robeson, and some of his early performance experiences. He discusses his approach to performing any musical work, including spirituals and classical works, in which he visualizes what the music is saying before and while he performs it. He describes the spiritual as a folk song that is part of the cultural inheritance of all Americans, and believes that the concretized spirituals, or spirituals as art songs, are still a valid expression of the original slave experience. He also describes some of his teaching experiences at Northwestern University and believes that an important part of his calling as an artist was to teach and awaken the artistry of his students.

Record Contributed By

University of Denver

Record Harvested From

Plains to Peaks Collective