Black South Africans et al. in Johannesburg - 1962

from In Pursuit of Music, page 138:

I made some good friends in Johannesburg, but the colour problem depressed me.  Africans were not allowed into the City Hall concerts, and when I went back there in 1962 I asked to play to them in their own habitat, a ramshackle place with a small upright piano, introducing the programme informally, including the Italian Concerto, the Kinderszenen, and Bartók’s Bulgarian Dances.  At the end they sang me some part-songs and madrigals excellently and with love, one of the most touching thank-yous I ever received.

cite as

Denis Matthews, In Pursuit of Music (London, 1966), p. 138. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1477603126885 accessed: 13 October, 2024

location of experience: Johannesburg

Listeners

Denis Matthews
Broadcaster, Musicologist, Pianist
1919-1988

Listening to

hide composers
Bulgarian Dances
written by Bartók
performed by Denis Matthews
Part songs and madrigals performed by Black South Africans
Italian Concerto
written by Johann Sebastian Bach
performed by Denis Matthews
Kinderszenen
written by Robert Schumann
performed by Denis Matthews

Experience Information

Date/Time 1962
Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, indoors, in public

Originally submitted by lcc5 on Thu, 27 Oct 2016 22:18:47 +0100
Approved on Wed, 17 May 2017 08:13:12 +0100