Clarence Cameron White facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Clarence Cameron White
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| Background information | |
| Born | August 10, 1880 Clarksville, Tennessee, United States |
| Died | June 30, 1960 (aged 79) New York City, United States |
| Genres | classical music |
| Occupation(s) | composer, violinist, educator |
| Years active | 1901-1960 |
Clarence Cameron White (born August 10, 1880 – died June 30, 1960) was an amazing American composer and a talented concert violinist. He was known for his dramatic music, like the music he wrote for the play Tambour and his opera Ouanga. In the early 1900s, many people thought White was the best Black violinist around. He was also part of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
Contents
Early Life and Music Beginnings
Clarence Cameron White was born in Clarksville, Tennessee. His father, James W. White, was a doctor and school principal. His mother, Jennie Scott White, was a violinist who studied at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Sadly, Clarence's father passed away when he was only two years old.
After his father's death, White moved with his mother and younger brother to Oberlin, Ohio. They lived with his grandparents. This is where he first discovered the violin.
White remembered hearing a famous musical piece called The Messiah at the conservatory. He started humming parts of it. His mother thought he had a good ear for music. She convinced his religious grandfather to give him his violin. Clarence was only six years old at the time. His grandfather joked, "I'll give him the violin. But if he ever plays at a dance I'll take it back!"
In 1890, White's mother remarried. The family then moved to Washington, D.C.. Washington D.C. had lively music scenes, especially in its Black communities.
Two years later, White met the famous violinist and composer Will Marion Cook. This happened in a funny way. White fell asleep during one of Cook's concerts!
White explained that his mother took him to hear students of a well-known piano teacher. He really wanted to hear Will Marion Cook play the violin. Cook was supposed to play near the end of the show. Student concerts can be quite long. So, by the time Cook's turn came, White had fallen asleep. He woke up to huge applause after Cook's solo. When he found out he had missed Cook's performance, he started crying. He made such a fuss that his mother had to take him home.
Cook heard about the upset young boy. In the summer of 1892, he offered to give White violin lessons. This experience changed White's life. He said, "Every lesson was one of pure joy, and it was during this period that I definitely made up my mind to be a violinist."
Learning and Growing as a Musician
White continued his private music lessons in 1894. He studied with Joseph Douglass, another important Black violinist. Douglass was also the grandson of the famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass. White studied with him at Howard University.
From 1896 to 1901, White attended Oberlin Conservatory of Music. This was where both his parents had studied. He learned from Frederick Doolittle, who had also taught Will Marion Cook. In 1901, White left Oberlin before graduating. He took a teaching job in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but it only lasted a month. Soon after, he won a scholarship to the Hartford School of Music. There, he studied with Franz Micki.
A kind person named Emma Azalia Hackley helped White a lot. She raised money for him to get a scholarship to study music abroad. He traveled to London and studied composing with Samuel Coleridge-Taylor in 1906. He went back to London from 1908 to 1910 to study violin with Michael Zacharewitsch. Later, from 1930 to 1932, he studied in Paris with Raoul Laparra.
A Busy Career in Music
Clarence Cameron White was always busy. He performed concerts, taught music, and wrote many compositions. From 1902 to 1903, he wrote articles about how to teach violin and its history for The Negro Music Journal. From 1903 to 1907, he was the head of the string department at the Washington Conservatory of Music. This school was started by Harriet Gibbs Marshall, who also went to Oberlin.
As a concert violinist, White received great reviews. He toured the United States with his wife, Beatrice Warrick White, who was a pianist. White was also a founding member of the National Association of Negro Musicians. He served as the president of this organization from 1922 to 1924.
From 1924 to 1930, he taught at West Virginia State College. Then, from 1932 to 1935, he took over from R. Nathaniel Dett as the head of the music department at Hampton Institute. During this time, he wrote some of his most famous works. These include the ballet A Night in Sans Souci (from the play Tambour) and the opera Ouanga!. The main role in Ouanga! was performed by the singer Lawrence Winters. These works were inspired by Haitian themes. White worked with the writer John F. Matheus on them.
Family Life
On April 24, 1905, Clarence Cameron White married Beatrice Warrick, a pianist. They had two children:
- William Warrick White (born March 27, 1906 – died 1938)
- Clarence Cameron White, Jr. (born March 11, 1908 – died January 30, 1913)
Beatrice passed away in October 1942 at their home in Elizabeth, New Jersey. White then moved to New York City. In 1943, he married Pura Belpré, who was a librarian, writer, and puppeteer. Clarence Cameron White died from cancer on June 30, 1960.
His Unique Music Style
Clarence Cameron White's music style was similar to other great composers he knew, like William Grant Still, Florence Price, R. Nathaniel Dett, and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. White often used themes and sounds from African American music and other African cultures in his compositions.
When he first started writing music, he often used parts of spirituals (traditional African American religious songs). He also made his own versions of spirituals. Some examples include Bandanna Sketches: Four Negro Spirituals, Camp Song: (Water Boy), Levee Dance, Forty Negro Spirituals, and Traditional Negro Spirituals.
As he became a more experienced composer, he started using more varied musical forms. In 1954, he won the Benjamin Award for his orchestral piece called Elegy. He also used "Negro" themes in his string quartet and other chamber music.
Some of His Musical Works
- Bandanna Sketches: Four Negro Spirituals (1918)
- From The Cotton Fields Op. 18 (1920)
- Triumphal March (1926)
- Forty Negro Spirituals (1927)
- Camp Song: (Water Boy) Op. 26 No. 1 (1927)
- Levee Dance Op.26 No.2 (1927)
- Tambour (1929), music for a play by John Matheus
- Ouanga! (1932), an opera
- Legende d'Afrique (1955)
- Spiritual Suite (1956) for four clarinets
- Elegy for orchestra
Books He Wrote for Musicians
- A System of One Octave Scale Studies for the Violin (1915)
- The Violinist's Daily Dozen, Twelve Special Studies for the Development of Correct Finger Action in Violin Playing (1924)
