R. Nathaniel Dett
| Robert Nathaniel Dett | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | October 11, 1882 Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | October 2, 1943 During a USO tour |
| Resting place | Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada |
| Pen name | R. Nathaniel Dett |
| Occupation | Composer, choral director, organist and pianist |
Robert Nathaniel Dett (October 11, 1882 – October 2, 1943), often known as R. Nathaniel Dett and Nathaniel Dett, was a composer, organist, pianist and music professor. While born in Canada, he spent most of his professional career in the United States. During his lifetime he was a leading Black composer, known for his use of African-American folk songs and spirituals as the basis for choral and piano compositions in the 19th century Romantic style of Classical music.
He was among the first Black composers during the early years of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). His works often appeared among the programs of Will Marion Cook's New York Syncopated Orchestra. Dett performed at Carnegie Hall and at the Boston Symphony Hall as a pianist and choir director.
Dett was born in Drummondville, Ontario (now part of Niagara Falls, Ontario), where he studied piano at an early age, showing initial interest when he was three years old and starting piano lessons at the age of five. He was the son of Charlotte Washington Dett and Robert T. Dett; his mother was a native of Drummondville and his father was from the United States. As a child, his mother encouraged him to memorize passages of Shakespeare, Longfellow and Tennyson. In 1893, the family moved to Niagara Falls, New York. At about age 14, he played piano for his local church. He studied at the Oliver Willis Halstead Conservatory of Music from 1901 to 1903.
He continued his piano studies at the Lockport Conservatory, matriculating to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. It was at Oberlin when he was first introduced to the idea of using spirituals in classical music; he heard the music of Antonín Dvořák which reminded him of the spirituals he had learned from his grandmother. He was the first black student to complete the five-year course at Oberlin. Dett toured as a concert pianist and during this period wrote only rudimentary piano compositions. He then came under the influence of Emma Azalia Hackley, a soprano singer, who inspired his interest in black American folk music.
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