- Elizabeth Greenfield
Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield (1824–1876), dubbed "The Black Swan", was an
African American singer considered the best-known black concert artist of her time. She was noted by James M. Trotter for her "remarkably sweet tones and wide vocal compass".Greenfield was born a slave in
Natchez, Mississippi , but was adopted by aPhiladelphia Quaker as an infant. She studied music as a child although it was forbidden by the Quakers with whom she associated. At this point she began to sing at private parties. Her concert debut was in 1851 presented for theBuffalo Musical Association . From 1851–53 she toured as managed by Colonel J.H. Wood.In 1853, she debuted at Metropolitan Hall in
New York , which held an audience of four thousand, white patrons only. After the concert, Greenfield apologized to her own people for their exclusion from and performance and gave a concert to benefit the Home of Aged Colored Persons and the Colored Orphan Asylum.In April 1853, she went to
London under the patronage of the Duchess of Sutherland andHarriet Beecher Stowe . She was taught by Queen Victoria'sChapel Royal organist,George Smart . She performed a command performance for the queen at Buckingham Palace onMay 10 ,1854 .Best known for her performances of the music of
George Frideric Handel ,Vincenzo Bellini , andGaetano Donizetti , she also performed sentimental American songs such asHenry Bishop 's 1852 setting ofJohn Howard Payne 's "Home! Sweet Home! " andStephen Foster 's "Old Folks at Home ".ref|repertoireReturning to the United States, she toured and conducted a
Philadelphia music studio. In the 1860s she created anopera troupe which she directed. She died inPhiladelphia on March 31, 1876.Notes
* Lott, p. 235.
References
* Lott, Eric. "Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class". New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. ISBN 0-19-507832-2.
* Southern, Eileen. "The Music of Black Americans: A History". W. W. Norton & Company; 3rd edition. ISBN 0-393-97141-4
*3 Hine, Darlene Clark. "Black Women in America: an historical Encyclopedia". Brooklyn, NY: Carlson Publishing, 1993. pp 499-501.
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