T'Chaka: African Suite, by Montague Ring

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 18:31:38 +0000

T'Chaka: African Suite, by Montague Ring Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 01/23/2023 - 11:31

David Reid

The T’Chaka Suite is a set of three dances published in 1927, named after the Zulu king Shaka, who ruled parts of modern-day South Africa from 1816-1828. All three dances contain a strong rhythmic drive and use of open fifths under melodic ideas. The second movement, Monarah, is a gentle Moderato with an active left hand and undulating melody later expanded into a duet. It is mid-to-late intermediate in difficulty; the student must take care to practice the jumps and several positions of the left hand. The thematic and harmonic ideas are straightforward but used to great effect.

British composer Amanda Ira Aldridge (1866-1956) composed piano music under the pseudonym Montague Ring, and she came from a remarkable artistic family who broke racial barriers in the arts. Her father, Ira Aldridge, was a notorious Shakesperian actor and the only African-American actor honored at the Shakespeare Memorial Theater, and her sister Luranah sang to great acclaim throughout Europe as one of the first black opera singers. Amanda Aldridge worked as a concert singer, accompanist, and voice teacher after studying at the Royal College of Music in London, and her notable students include Paul Robeson and Marian Anderson. After her singing career was cut short by laryngitis, she turned to composing songs and piano music for middle-class families. The Walker-Hill collection contains several dozen of these works, which were widely published in the early 20th century but now are difficult to find and access.

Sources

Amanda Aldrige (Wikipedia)
Photo from a Boulanger Initiative tweet

Performed by David Reid.

Traditional

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"Three African Dances," by Montague Ring

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Sep 2021 18:24:53 +0000

"Three African Dances," by Montague Ring Anonymous (not verified) Sat, 09/11/2021 - 12:24

Bryan Chuan

Montague Ring wrote Three African Dances as a suite intended for amateur pianists and middle class families. The dances all use melodies with West African origins and folk harmonies like open fifths and flat second scale degrees. The dances are suitable for intermediate pianists, and the cyclic form of the piece can inspire creative storytelling. The first movement, Call To the Feast features an ostinato in the left hand accompanying a slow chant-like melody in the minor mode. The second movement, Luleta's Dance uses a steady waltz pattern and an ornamented melody with quintuplets. The final movement, Dance of the Warriors, integrates the main themes from the first two movements, C into a vigorous rondo that concludes with a thrilling accelerando. Students need to be familiar with a stride style accompaniment to master the fast LH skips and octaves present throughout this movement.

Sources

Amanda Aldrige (Wikipedia)
Photo from a Boulanger Initiative tweet

Performed by Bryan Chuan.

Traditional

White

Montague Ring

T'Chaka: African Suite, by Montague Ring

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