Dawson the Composer

As a composer, Dawson strove to be the voice of his people, using the culturally rich tones and drawing on his own history of musical experiences as a child in Anniston, Alabama. While a student at Tuskegee Institute, Dawson learned of Antonin Dvořák’s selection of African American folk songs as the “true” essence of an American musical sound and embarked on a mission to set the Folk Song of the American Negro (which many refer to as “spirituals”) for choirs and instruments. During his constant effort to study the history of music first created in America by his enslaved ancestors, Dawson composed from his historical expertise, his advanced study of music theory/composition, and from his heart. Dawson’s arrangement of African American spirituals began in earnest while he taught music at Lincoln High School (LHS) in Kansas City, Missouri and continued throughout his lifetime. It was at LHS that Dawson would meet visual artist Aaron Douglas and form a lasting friendship. In addition to the arrangement of folk songs such as “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” “Ezekiel Saw de Wheel,” “Ain-a That Good News,” and others, Dawson became only the second African American to compose a symphony. Entitled, Negro Folk Symphony, the work was premiered by Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1934.