Expanding the Repertoire

Title: Expanding the Repertoire
Description: In all areas, Patterson sought to expand classical music’s repertoire past its traditional, conservative limits. His two published Anthologies of Art Songs by Black American Composers (1977 and 2002) are perhaps the most concrete example of this expansion. However, his mission also informed his teaching, coordination of symposia and concerts, and efforts to bring visiting scholars and artists to campus.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Out of all of Patterson’s wide-ranging efforts to diversify the classical repertoire, which do you believe had the capacity to be the most influential? Do these modes still have the same potential for impact today?

What might have to be adjusted in order to successfully implement Patterson’s strategies at SMTD today? What can we learn from his work to expand the repertoire, and what should be left in the past?

What concerted efforts to expand the classical repertoire are ongoing at SMTD? How are they similar or different from these archival examples?

RELATED COLLECTIONS:; Scholarship; Artistry; BIPOC Platforming

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Interview Clip: Anthology funding and recording process
Recorded in Studio 2 (The Berg) in the Dance Building at the University of Michigan's School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. [00:00:00] PATTERSON: I went to her, Margaret, to ask whether her membership on the Dow Chemical Corporation might uncover some source of potential support, $10,000. TOPPIN: That man is smart. You're smart. PATTERSON: For the publication of my... [00:00:27] TOPPIN: So you had the idea of the publication, but, and then you saw the funding, or did you just have the idea? How far had you worked on the publication before you— PATTERSON: I had worked very assiduously. TOPPIN: So you had the songs already picked, and then you were looking for the help to get it published. Okay. [00:00:49] PATTERSON: And the March Brothers told me that they could not publish it. They would not undertake the publication of it without some funding, and they suggested the figure $10,000. And I said to Margaret Dow, “Is there any possibility of it?” She said, “No, the Dow Chemical Corporation would not fund that. But here.” She walked over to her desk, and this is in her home, and she pulled out her checkbook. And she said, “I will.” TOPPIN: Wow. [00:01:34] PATTERSON: And I said, “You know, that I can't be encouraged to say to you that we can pay this back in any kind of reasonable time.” She said, “Don't worry about that, Willis.” TOPPIN: Wow. PATTERSON: She said, “Judith had told me about your aim.” [00:02:04] TOPPIN: Your project, yeah. And to think that that's the anthology that has been going strong since 1977 and has been the standard on the market, um, and had you not had the fortitude to go and ask her— PATTERSON: And the connections. TOPPIN: And the connections, which being at the School of Music and being, that is brilliant. [00:02:28] And then how did you come, did she also fund the recording or somebody else? PATTERSON: No, the School of Music. TOPPIN: They kicked in for the recording. PATTERSON: Kicked in for the recording. TOPPIN: Okay. PATTERSON: In fact, George Cavender was appointed, at that time he was Bill Rovelli's right-hand man. But he became the organizer—upon his retirement from working with Bill—he became the manager of recording, all recordings in the school of music, and he undertook that project. [00:03:07] TOPPIN: Wow, because you have, again, that too is iconic with George Shirley and you and—uh, is it Hilda Harris on it? No, it is Hilda Harris on it. [00:03:17] So you brought in these stars as well as, very smartly, used graduate students who are in their own right now. Yuzi Brown, who was chair at Morehouse for 49 years, and Charsie Sawyer, who was at Calvin College. You had these wonderful singers as a part of the project. You really made it into an SMTD project by hiring the students to be a part of it.
Interview Clip: Being an example of possibilities for Black music
Recorded in Studio 2 (The Berg) in the Dance Building at the University of Michigan's School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. [00:00:00] PATTERSON: I wanted to make sure that the persons at the University of Michigan did not look upon me as an exception. TOPPIN: Right. PATTERSON: Uh, but looked upon me as a representative of the persons who were composing and performing, um, music, African-American music, of every kind. Not enough, because they weren't encouraged enough. But I wanted them to look upon my experiences and the support I received as a possibility for what they could experience and what could be contributed uh, from the body of—an existent body—of composers, performers of all kinds. So that's... [00:01:05] TOPPIN: And I noticed that in Voice, after you were hired, Seth McCoy, George Shirley, Earl Coleman, Shirley Verrett, were all of these hired while you were... PATTERSON: Yes. TOPPIN: Were you integral in bringing them on? [00:01:25] PATTERSON: I think, I must say that Paul Boylan was at that time associate dean and eventually grew into the deanship, And his role is not to be underestimated. His support and, of the on the campus presence of not only performers, but, uh, academitions [sic] in the discipline of music.
Interview Clip: Importance of the African American Music Symposium
Recorded in Studio 2 (The Berg) in the Dance Building at the University of Michigan's School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. [00:00:00] PATTERSON: And I organized the African American Music Symposium. TOPPIN: Which people still talk about, 1985, that symposium, the impact of the multi-day symposium that brought the top names, Undine Moore, Ollie Wilson, all these people came. And they still, as I see some of them, they still talk about something that happened in 1985 because it hadn't happened before, and it gave space for all of these black intellectuals to talk about the music and to talk about their experiences and the future of this music that really was not getting any, um, that was not being appreciated or valued, yes, or evaluated and included in the curriculum. [00:00:59] It's a thing that people continue to fight for is, why is there not space for this black music to exist in every classroom, in every, along with all the other music that we learn. It is Western European music. It just happens to be written by Americans. I mean, it's Western music, it's not European music. [00:01:20] But your work cannot be understated because those of us who had the opportunity to work under your tutelage learned from you. As I'm on a million committees each year, people have often said, “why are you on so many committees?” And I, you were the model for that, that, if you want to make a change, you have to be in the space. And if you don't show up, then you can't complain that nothing is happening. [00:01:49] You have to step in, and, um, you still warn me about over-committing, but part of that is that, is that we hold you on such high esteem for the work that you did.
Interview Clip: German review sparked exploration of Black music
Recorded in Studio 2 (The Berg) in the Dance Building at the University of Michigan's School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. [00:00:00] PATTERSON But that interest, in-interest came about during my concert career. TOPPIN: Right. PATTERSON I sang a concert in one of the 13, uh German, uh, German, uh houses. TOPPIN: Okay. [00:00:23] PATTERSON: And uh, one of the concerts I did, I've forgotten exactly where now, but the newspaper columnist wrote very assiduously, "why does Patterson come here to sing German lieder for us who have heard it many times and probably, as well as he did it, better?" And uh, "why does he not come here and sing American art songs?" of which I knew nothing of, I knew of no body of African American writers. [00:01:15] And that first offended me intensely, but then I thought about it and I asked myself, where are the American art songs? And uh, I'd become by then acquainted at Southern University and Virginia State University, and I wrote to my former colleagues asking them, do they—does such a body of literature exist? And they corresponded and allayed my fears that there was, uh, there was not a body of literature. I was raised in Western music— TOPPIN: Right, right. [00:02:14] PATTERSON: —but luckily, the question was asked, and so I began to learn about— TOPPIN: Black music. PATTERSON: —about African American music of all kinds. I became friends with Bill Warfield and Natalie Hinderas and all these wonderful people who were performing and writing. Betty Jackson King and on and on and on. They were writing and producing American, African American music. And I became acquainted with Rogie Clark, who had written the last book of that, uh, limited time frame of African American art songs. Wonderful book, the last of which I obtained from the University of, of Chicago. [00:03:27] TOPPIN: Yeah, the Negro Art Songs, 1946. PATTERSON: Yes. [00:03:30] TOPPIN: Yeah, that preceded the work that you did. But isn't it interesting that which was such a negative and painful review in many ways, set you on a path to be the premier person to inspire all the rest of us, the next generations behind you, to take a look at this repertoire and to even, you brought it to light in such a way because Rogie Clark's book went in and out of print quickly.
Schedule for Symposium on Black American Music Planning Meeting
Outlines a series of remarks, site visits, and subcommittee meetings for October 4 and 5, 1983.
Notes for Spoken Remarks at Symposium on Black American Music Planning Meeting
In the speech outlined here, Patterson touches on the reasoning for the Symposium's focus on "serious" or "classical" art music, as opposed to other Black American musical genres. He also explains his goal that the Symposium not only be educational about and community-building among Black musicians and composers, but that it also reach the "shapers and makers of concert calendars, college and university curriculum makers and the general media."
Letter from Willis Patterson to Herman Hudson
Patterson seeks to confirm Hudson's participation in the Black American Music Symposium. Enclosed is the tentative schedule of symposium events.
Letter from Margaret Ann Riecker to Willis Patterson, August 2, 1990
Riecker, president of the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation, notifies Patterson of his successful application for $40,000 of grant funding for the School of Music Afro-American Music Collection Symposium, which was being planned for 1992.
Proposal for SROP Position, Yvonne Perry
Authorship inferred from other SROP materials in the folder. Perry's research proposal concerns a continuation of a radio series project she was writing and producing with Willis Patterson.
Outlines for Presentation, Angela L. Jones
Two drafts of the outline for Jones' presentation are included, with varying degrees of handwritten annotations on both. Title ideas listed include: "The Art Music of Black Americans" and "The Present and Future Implications of Black Art Music."
Proposal for Funding the Publication of a Collection of Spirituals to Be Entitled "The New Negro Spiritual"
This proposal is not signed or dated, but it describes Patterson's project, and the writing of a description of this publication project was elsewhere listed as an assignment for Alicia Hunter's 1987 SROP work.
Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP) Proposal
The author of this proposal is not named on the document, nor is it dated, but the research it describes aligns with other documentation of Angela Jones' 1987 SROP work. The proposal concerns the collection, cataloguing, and performance of music of Black Americans dating from 1930–1985.
Assignments for SROP Students
Notes about assignments for Patterson's SROP student researchers, Alicia Hunter and Angela Jones.
Schedule for Dr. Charlotte Heth, Visiting KCP Professor in Music, September 29–October 5, 1988
The tentative schedule for Heth's visit, including class visits, meetings over meals with the U. of M. Native American Students Organization and the Music, Drama (sic) & Theatre Minority Students, concerts, and a public lecture.
Memorandum from Willis Patterson to Misc. University of Michigan Administration
Patterson writes to Interim President Fleming, Vice-President Johnson, Associate Vice-President Swain, Provost Duderstady, Vice-Provost Moody, Dean Boylan, and Dean John D'Arms to report about the expenditures for the April 3, 1988 MLK Memoriam Concert, and to request that funds be made available for the concert to become an annual event. The budget sheet for the 1988 concert is enclosed.
Guest Faculty Recital of the Chamber Compositions of Adolphus Hailstork Program
This recital featured a variety of Adolphus Hailstork pieces. Louise Toppin sang, among many other faculty performers.
Leon Bates KCP Visiting Professorship Events Flyer
This flyer advertises Leon Bates' residency at the University of Michigan School of Music from March 28–April 1, 1988. The advertised events include a master class, meeting with Minority Music, Dance & Theater students, guest recital, DMA seminar, and piano literature class.
Memorandum to Paul Boylan from Willis Patterson regarding KPC Visiting Professors for 1989–90
This memorandum primarily discusses some changes to the KCP visiting professorship funding, as well as possible nominees for 1989–90. It also provides some insight into the wide range of other simultaneous projects that Patterson was working on.
Memorandum to George Schlecht from Scott L. Ward
A request to transfer funds to provide reimbursements for KCP visiting professors, including Fransisco Rivera-Batiz, Hazel Carby & Henry Gates, Pearl Primus & Onwin Borde, Andre DeShields, Undine Smith Moore, and Al Young.
Memorandum to Professors Ghitalla and D. Smith from Willis Patterson
A thank you note for Ghitalla and Smith's support of the Hailstork Chamber Music Concert on September 27, 1987, passed along from Adolphus Hailstork.
Memorandum to Paul Boylan from Willis Patterson regarding Martin Luther King Jr./Rosa Parks Visiting Professorships
An update about Leontyne Price's lack of availability. Patterson suggests inviting Adolphus Hailstork, Eileen Southern, Samuel Floyd, and/or Leon Bates.
Memorandum to Willis Patterson from Martin Luther King, Jr. - Rosa Parks Coordinating Committee
Acknowledges recent funding request to the King-Parks Coordinating Committee in support of a Frederick Douglass oratorio, and requests a budget for a visit from Adolphus Hailstork during Black History month for the oratorio's performance.
Memorandum to Robert Holmes from Willis Patterson
Contains the School of Music's final nominations for the next KCP visiting professorships—Adolphus Hailstork, Leon Bates, and Josephine Harreld Love—with their biographies and a projected budget.
Memorandum to Marilyn Breiter from Willis Patterson
Notification of Adolphus Hailstork's schedule as a KCP visiting professor September 26–October 2, 1987, for publicity purposes. The schedule includes coaching, class visits, meetings with faculty and student groups, and rehearsals for October 2, 1987 concert.
Expense Report for King/Chavez/Parks Visiting Professor Leon Bates
The expense report for King/Chavez/Parks Visiting Professor Leon Bates, who visited campus March 28–April 1, 1988. The expenses total $8,244.00, and $6,800 of this is Bates' honorarium.