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			{{Short description\|Canadian-American Black composer (1882–1943)}}
	{{Infobox Writer <!-- for more information see ] -->
			{{Redirect\|Dett\|the town in Hope County, Zimbabwe\|Dete}}
			{{Use Canadian English\|date=February 2021}}
			{{Use mdy dates\|date=February 2021}}
			{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see ] -->
	\| name = Robert Nathaniel Dett		\| name = Robert Nathaniel Dett
	\| image = Robert Nathaniel Dett.jpg		\| image = Robert Nathaniel Dett.jpg
	\| caption =		\| caption =
	\| pseudonym =		\| pseudonym = R. Nathaniel Dett
			\| birth_date = {{Birth date\|1882\|10\|11}}
	\| birthdate = October 11, 1882
			\| birth_place = ], Canada
	\| deathdate = October 2, 1943
			\| death_date = {{death date and age\|1943\|10\|2\|1882\|10\|11}}
	\| occupation = ]
			\| death_place = During a USO tour
	\| influences =
			\| resting_place = Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
			\| occupation = ], ], ], ]
			\| influences =
	\| influenced = }}		\| influenced = }}

	'''Robert Nathaniel Dett''' (October 11, 1882 – October 2, 1943), often known as '''R. Nathaniel Dett''', was a composer in the ] and ]. During his lifetime he was ~~one~~ of ~~the~~ ~~most successful black composers~~, known for his use of ]s and ] for choral and piano compositions in the ] style.<ref>Canadian Musical ~~works~~ 1900-1980 a bibliography of general and analytical sources. Ottawa : Canadian Association of Music Libraries, 1983. (ISBN ~~0708896358~~)</ref>		'''Robert Nathaniel Dett''' (October 11, 1882 – October 2, 1943), often known as '''R. Nathaniel Dett''' and '''Nathaniel Dett''', was a Canadian-American composer, organist, pianist, choral director, and music professor. Born and raised in Canada until the age of 11, he moved to the United States with his family and had most of his professional education and career there. During his lifetime he was a leading Black composer, known for his use of ] ] and ] as the basis for choral and piano compositions in the 19th century ] style of ].<ref>''Canadian Musical Works 1900-1980, a bibliography of general and analytical sources''. Ottawa: Canadian Association of Music Libraries, 1983 ({{ISBN\|978-0-9690583-2-8}}).</ref>

	He was among the first ] composers during the early years of the ]. His works often appeared among the programs of ]'s New York ~~syncopated~~ Orchestra. Dett ~~himself~~ performed at ] and at the ] ~~Hall~~ as a pianist and choir director.<ref>Music in Canada, capturing landscape and diversity ~~by Elaine Keillor.~~ Montreal McGill-Queen's University Press. 1939 (ISBN 0773531777)</ref>		He was among the first ] composers during the early years after the ] (ASCAP) was organized. His works often appeared among the programs of ]'s New York Syncopated Orchestra. Dett performed at ] and at the ] as a pianist and choir director.<ref>Elaine Keillor, ''Music in Canada, capturing landscape and diversity'', Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. 1939 ({{ISBN\|0773531777}}).</ref>

	== ~~Biography~~ ==		==Early life==
			Dett was born in 1882 in Drummondville, Ontario (now part of ]),<ref name="SchabasMansouri2013">{{cite book\|author1=Ezra Schabas\|author2=Lotfi Mansouri\|author3=Stuart Hamilton \|author4=James Neufeld \|author5=Robert Popple \|author6=Walter Pitman \|author7=Holly Higgins Jonas \|author8=Michelle Labrèche-Larouche \|author9=Carl Morey \|title=Dundurn Performing Arts Library Bundle\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QwBVAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT398\|date=December 17, 2013\|publisher=Dundurn\|isbn=978-1-4597-2401-3\|pages=398–}}</ref> to Charlotte (Washington) Dett and Robert T. Dett. Descended from escaped slaves who travelled North,<ref>{{Cite web\|title=R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943)\|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200038840/\|access-date=February 12, 2021\|website=Library of Congress}}</ref> his mother was a native of Drummondville and his father was from the United States.<!-- Where? --> The young Dett studied piano at an early age, showing initial interest when he was three years old and starting piano lessons at the age of five. When he was a child, his mother directed him to study ], ] and ], and commit passages to memory.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web\|title=Robert Nathaniel Dett (October 11, 1882 – October 2, 1943) - Niagara Falls Museums\|url=https://niagarafallsmuseums.ca/discover-our-history/history-notes/nathaniel-dett\|access-date=February 12, 2021\|website=City of Niagara Falls History Museums\|language=en}}</ref>
	Dett was born in Drummondville, Ontario (now part of ]) where he studied piano at an early age showing initial interest at age three and formal piano lessons at age five. He was the son of Charlotte Washington Dett and Robert T. Dett; his mother was a native of Drummondville while his father was from the United States. As a child, his mother encouraged him to memorize passages of ], ] and ]. In 1893, the family moved to ]. At about age fourteen, he had played piano for his local church. He continued his ] studies at the Oliver Willis Halstead Conservatory of Music from 1901 to 1903.<ref>The Music of Black Americans: A History. by Eileen Southern. W. W. Norton & Company; 3rd edition. ISBN 0-393-97141-4</ref>

			In 1893, the family moved over the border to ]. At about age 14, Dett played piano for his local church, the Methodist Mission Church, later renamed to R. Nathaniel Dett Memorial Chapel.<ref name="Henry2010">{{cite book\|author=Natasha L. Henry\|author-link=Natasha L. Henry-Dixon\|title=Emancipation Day: Celebrating Freedom in Canada\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5y-XibwWti0C&pg=PA248\|date=July 12, 2010\|publisher=Dundurn\|isbn=978-1-77070-547-0\|pages=248}}</ref> He studied at the Oliver Willis Halstead Conservatory of Music from 1901 to 1903.<ref name="Southern_1997">{{cite book \|first=Eileen \|last=Southern \|title=The Music of Black Americans: A History \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|edition=3 \|date=1997}}{{ISBN\|0-393-97141-4}}</ref>
	He then continued his piano studies at the ], matriculating to the ]. It was at Oberlin when he was first explored to the idea of using spirituals in classical style music; he was exposed to the music of ] which was immediately reminiscent of the spirituals he had heard from his grandmother. He was the first black student to complete the five-year course at Oberlin. He then toured as a concert pianist and during this period he wrote only rudimentary piano compositions. He then came under the influence of ], ], who inspired his interest in black American ].

			He continued his piano studies at the Lockport Conservatory, matriculating to the ] in Ohio, where he first encountered the practice of incorporating spirituals in classical music.<ref name=":0"/> He heard the music of ], a Czech composer who had toured the United States and incorporated elements of American music in his own work, including the '']''. He was also influenced by the composer ] who composed a set of three cantatas called '']'' based on a ] by American poet ].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web\|title=Nathaniel Dett - Composer, Choir Leader, Pianist, Teacher, Poet, and Writer\|url=https://nathanieldett.org/\|access-date=February 12, 2021\|website=Nathaniel Dett\|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1">Stephen Banfield, Jeremy Dibble, and Anya Laurence, "Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel," in ''Grove Music Online'' (Oxford University Press, 2013).</ref> Some of the music reminded Dett of the spirituals he had learned from his grandmother. He was the first black American to complete the Bachelor of Music degree at Oberlin (1908), for which he studied composition and piano.<ref name=":1" /> Dett toured as a concert pianist and during this period wrote only rudimentary piano compositions. He came under the influence of ], a ] singer, who inspired his interest in black American ].
	In 1908, he completed his degree, a ] with a major in composition and piano. Within that year, he became a professor at Tennessee's ] followed by a tenure at the ] in ]. During this period, he wrote practical choral and piano pieces suitable for his students. The 1913 piece ''In the Bottoms'' contains one of his most played movements, ''Dance Juba''. ] performed the work at the Chicago Music Hall with great success. Soon after this he became the first black director of music at the ] in Virginia where he maintained the position from 1913 to 1932. During this near twenty-year period, he founded the Hampton Choral Union, Musical Arts Society, Hampton Institute Choir and School of Music. He encouraged his Hampton student, soprano ], to pursue a career as a concert artist; she followed his advice to become one of the leading concert artists in the nation.<ref>Zick, William J. Robert Nathaniel Dett: African American composer, pianist & choral director. Retrieved Jan. 2, 2005</ref>
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	His position as a major pianist-composer was earned in 1914. His piece ] was performed at the ] Club. On June 3rd of that year he performed ''Magnolia'' and ''In the Bottoms''. The Chicago Evening Post reported that among the works on the "All Colored" program, his works were the most innovative and complimented the high level of his pianistic skill. On December 27, 1916, he married Helen Elise Smith— the first graduate of the Institute of Musical Art, now ] of performing arts. In 1918, Dett wrote of his compositional goals:

			==Career==
	<blockquote>"We have this wonderful store of folk music—the melodies of an enslaved people ... But this store will be of no value unless we utilize it, unless we treat it in such manner that it can be presented in choral form, in lyric and operatic works, in concertos and suites and salon music—unless our musical architects take the rough timber of Negro themes and fashion from it music which will prove that we, too, have national feelings and characteristics, as have the European peoples whose forms we have zealously followed for so long." (Southern 280)<ref>Canadian Music Catalogues and Acquisitions lists. Toronto, 1971- [various lists of Canadian music (orchestral, vocal, chamber, choral)</ref></blockquote>
			After graduation, Dett started teaching at Tennessee's ], followed by a tenure at the ] in ]. During this period, his compositional activities included writing practical choral and piano pieces suitable for his students.<ref name=":0" /> The 1913 piece ''In the Bottoms'' contains one of his most played movements, "Dance Juba". ] performed the work at the Chicago Music Hall. In 1913 Dett began to teach at the ] in Virginia, and in 1926 became the first black director of music there. He remained at Hampton until 1932. During his nearly twenty-year tenure, he founded the Hampton Choral Union, Musical Arts Society, Hampton Institute Choir and its School of Music. Internationally-recognized, the choir specialized in African American sacred music and performed Dett's own compositions and arrangements. Sometimes, his arrangements were criticized for being "inauthentic" due to their similarities with Western classical music.<ref name=":1" /> He encouraged his Hampton student, soprano ], to pursue a career as a concert artist; she followed his advice to become one of the leading concert artists in the nation.<ref>Zick, William J. "Robert Nathaniel Dett: African American composer, pianist & choral director". Retrieved January 2, 2005.</ref>
			]
			His position as a major pianist-composer was earned in 1914. His piece ''Magnolia'' was performed at the ] Club. On June 3 that year he performed ''Magnolia'' and ''In the Bottoms''. The '']'' reported that among the works on the "All Colored" program, his works were the most innovative, and it praised his high level of piano skills.

			On December 27, 1916, Dett married ]. She was the first black graduate of the Institute of Musical Art in New York City, which became known as the ] of performing arts.
	Throughout his lifetime, Dett continued to study. Each summer, he attended major national institutions. From 1920 to 1921, he attended ] where he studied with ] winning two prizes. ''Don't Be Weary Traveler'', a choral composition, won the Francis Boott Award while his essay "The Emancipation of Negro Music" won the ]. His interest in composition continued to reflect the demands of teaching. ] recorded the ''Juba'' from ''In the Bottoms'' during this period at Harvard. He composed collections of spirituals which he had arranged including ''Religious Folksongs of the Negro'' (1927) and ''The Dett Collections of Negro Spirituals'' (1936). Dett received a Holstein prize for his contributions as a composer.

			In 1918, Dett wrote of his compositional goals:
	From 1924 to 1926, Dett served as the president of The National Association of Negro Musicians. Founded in Chicago in 1919, the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc. is the country’s oldest organization dedicated to the preservation, encouragement and advocacy of all genres of the music of African Americans.

			<blockquote>We have this wonderful store of ]—the melodies of an ] ... But this store will be of no value unless we utilize it, unless we treat it in such manner that it can be presented in choral form, in lyric and operatic works, in concertos and suites and salon music—unless our musical architects take the rough timber of Negro themes and fashion from it music which will prove that we, too, have national feelings and characteristics, as have the European peoples whose forms we have zealously followed for so long.<ref name="Southern_1997"/>{{rp\|280}}<ref>''Canadian Music Catalogues and Acquisitions lists.'' Toronto, 1971- Various lists of Canadian music (orchestral, vocal, chamber, choral)</ref></blockquote>
	In 1929, he traveled to France to study at the ] with ] and then he earned a Masters of Music degree at the ] in 1932. In 1933 after resigning from the Hampton Institute, he served as the choral conductor for Stromberg-Carlson's NBC radio broadcasts. One of his most praised choral works was then written in 1937, the oratorio ''The Ordering of Moses''. It was conducted by ] on May 7, 1937 with a chorus of 350 and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at the Cincinnati May Music Festival. Dett was Visiting Director of Music at ] in Greensboro, North Carolina began in 1937 and continued to 1942. With this chorus, he toured across Canada and the United States as well as broadcasting on CBS.

			Throughout his lifetime, Dett continued to study music, including studies at many prestigious institutions such as the American Conservatory of Music, at Columbia University, Northwestern University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard.<ref name=":1" /> Each summer, he attended major national institutions. In 1919, he founded the Musical Arts Society which organized concerts with artists such as ], ], Grainger, ], Sousa and ] and the Belgian Royal Band who presented Dett with the Palm and Ribbon Award.<ref name=":1" /> From 1920 to 1921, he attended ], where he studied with ], winning two prizes. ''Don't Be Weary Traveller'', a choral composition, won the ] Award, while his essay "The Emancipation of Negro Music" won the ]. His interest in composition had to accommodate his demands of teaching and administration. ] recorded the "Juba" from ''In the Bottoms'' during Dett's year at Harvard.
	Dett joined the ] as a choral advisor to contribute to the war efforts. Traveling with this chorus, he died of a heart attack on October 2, 1943 survived by his wife as well as his two daughters. He was buried in the town of his birth at Niagara Falls, Ontario.

			Dett also composed collections of spirituals, which he had arranged, including ''Religious Folksongs of the Negro'' (1927) and ''The Dett Collections of Negro Spirituals'' (1936). Dett received a Holstein prize for his contributions as a composer.
	The Chapel of the ] in Niagara Falls, Ontario was named in honour of Robert Nathaniel Dett, who, from 1898 to 1903, was the Church organist.
	The church was designated a national historic site in 2001.

			From 1924 to 1926, Dett served as president of The ]. Founded in Chicago in 1919, the association is the United States' oldest organization dedicated to the preservation, encouragement, and advocacy of all genres of African-American music. He also became involved with the ].<ref name=":1" />

			In 1929, Dett travelled to France to study at the ] with composer ]. He earned a Masters of Music degree at the ] in Rochester in 1932.
	=== Legacy ===
	Dett is remembered most for his work in combining the music of the European Romantics with the American spiritual. The music of Robert Nathaniel Dett is still performed today. Canada's ] bears his name and performs his music as well as other composers of African descent. The chorale is one of many that has recorded his music.

			In 1933, after resigning from the Hampton Institute, Dett served as the choral conductor for Stromberg-Carlson's ] radio broadcasts. He wrote the oratorio ''The Ordering of Moses'' (1937). It was conducted by ] in its premiere on May 7, 1937, with a chorus of 350 and the ] at the Cincinnati May Festival in Ohio.
	Late in his career, his style was removed from his earlier neo-romantic works as he adopted more contemporary idioms. In this later period, he wrote piano suites such as ''American Ordering of Moses'' (1937), ''Tropic Winter'' (1938), and ''Eight Bible Vignettes'' (1941–1943)—his final piano suite.

	*''Magnolia'' (1912)
			From 1937 until 1942, Dett served as Visiting Director of Music at ] in Greensboro, North Carolina. With its chorus he toured across Canada and the United States. They also performed on CBS radio broadcasts.
	*'']'' (1913), a "characteristic suite" of four ]<ref></ref>

			Late in his career, Dett shifted his style from that of his earlier neo-romantic works and adopted more contemporary idioms. In this later period he wrote piano suites such as ''American Ordering of Moses'' (1937), ''Tropic Winter'' (1938), and ''Eight Bible Vignettes'' (1941–1943)—his final piano suite.

			Dett joined the ] (USO) as a choral advisor to contribute to the war efforts in supporting US troops during World War II. Travelling with the USO chorus, he died of a heart attack on October 2, 1943.<ref>. ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', by Helmut Kallmann</ref> He was buried beside his wife as well as his two daughters, in the town of his birth at Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

			===Legacy and honours===
			]
			In the 2000s, Dett is remembered most for his work in creating music in the style of the European Romantic composers that incorporated elements of African-American ]s. His music is still performed in the 2000s. Canada's ], founded in 1998, was named for him and performs his music as well as that of other composers of African descent.<ref name="Brooks2010">{{cite book\|author=Tim Brooks\|title=Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890-1919\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lf7NTiZVvy0C&pg=PA492\|date=October 1, 2010\|publisher=University of Illinois Press\|isbn=978-0-252-09063-9\|pages=488–492}}</ref> The chorale is one of many that has recorded his music. In 2022 a previously unknown orchestral version of his Magnolia Suite Part Two: No 4 “Mammy” was found in a US archive.<ref name="Alberge2022">{{cite news \|last1=Alberge \|first1=Dalya \|title=BBC to air rediscovered work by 'one of greatest composers of African descent' \|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/oct/23/bbc-air-rediscovered-work-nathaniel-dett-composer-african-descent \|access-date=23 October 2022 \|work=The Guardian}}</ref>

			In 2014, his oratorio ''The Ordering of Moses'' was revived by the Cincinnati May Festival, and performed the same week in Music Hall in Cincinnati and at ] in New York. The incident from the world premiere in 1937, when the live broadcast was cut off by the NBC network during the performance, was re-created, using tapes of the announcer. There is no documented account of the reason for the interruption of the broadcast.

			In 1934 Dett, and/or his publisher, registered strong objections to saxophonist ]'s swing band adaptation of "Juba Dance", from the suite '']'' ] was compelled to withdraw the recording (#6763) from release.

			Dett did little recording of his music. In 1912 he recorded five selections from the ''Magnolia Suite'' for QRS piano rolls. These are believed to be the first commercial piano rolls ever made by a black pianist. In 1919 he recorded two selections for ], "Mammy" from ''Magnolia Suite'' and "Barcarolle" from ''In the Bottoms''. The latter can be found on the CD ''Lost Sounds'', Archeophone ARCH 1005.<ref name="Brooks2010" />

			In 1993 Anne Key Simpson published a biography of Dett, ''Follow Me: the Life and Music of R. Nathaniel Dett''.<ref name="Brooks2010" />

			The former ] in Niagara Falls, Ontario, was renamed in honour of Dett. From 1898 to 1903, he was the organist at that church. The church was designated in 2001 as a ].<ref>{{Dead link\|date=September 2018 \|bot=InternetArchiveBot \|fix-attempted=yes }}, Directory of Designations of National Historic Significance of Canada</ref><ref>, National Register of Historic Places</ref>

			The Robert Nathaniel Dett Elementary School in Chicago is named for him.<ref>, Chicago Public School System</ref>

			==Awards and honours==
			* ] (1921), for his essay, "The Emancipation of Negro Music", from ].<ref>"Dett, Robert Nathaniel", in ''The Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'' (1939), 1940 reprint, New York: Blue Ribbon Books.</ref>
			* Francis Boott Music Award for his choral composition "Don't be Weary Traveller," from Harvard.
			* Harmon Foundation Award.<ref name=":1" />
			* Honorary Doctorate (1924) from ].<ref name=":1" />
			* Honorary Doctorate (1926) from ].<ref name=":1" />

			==Compositions and arrangements==
			Many of his works were published, includes those for piano, choir, voice, organ, and orchestra:
			*''After the Cakewalk'' (1900)
			*''Cave of the Winds ''(1902), march and two-step
			* ''Magnolia'' (1912), suite for solo piano<ref name=":1" />
			*'']'' (1913), a "characteristic suite" of five ]<ref>{{Cite web\|url=http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Drilldown;jsessionid=3570F99D0028F8482F1B41CA701352E0?name_id1=16334&name_role1=2&bcorder=2&name_id=3006&name_role=1\|title=Dett: Piano Works / Denver Oldham - New World Records: 03667903 \| Buy from ArkivMusic\|website=www.arkivmusic.com\|accessdate=February 13, 2021\|archive-date=January 28, 2021\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128114131/http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Drilldown;jsessionid=3570F99D0028F8482F1B41CA701352E0?name_id1=16334&name_role1=2&bcorder=2&name_id=3006&name_role=1\|url-status=dead}}</ref>
			*Listen to the Lambs (1914), "a religious character in the form of an anthem"
	*''Music in the Mine'' (1916), a choral work		*''Music in the Mine'' (1916), a choral work
			*''I'll Never Turn Back no More'' (1916)<ref name=":1" />
	*''The Chariot Jubilee'' (1921), for tenor, chorus, and orchestra.
			*'' The Chariot Jubilee'' (1921), for tenor, chorus, and orchestra.
	*''Enchantment'' (1922)
			*Don't be Weary, Traveler (1921)<ref name=":1" />
	*''The Cinnamon Grove'' (1928)
			*''Enchantment'' (1922), a suite for solo piano<ref name=":1" />
			*''Listen to the Lambs'' (1923)<ref name=":1" />
			*''Let us Cheer the Weary Traveller'' (1926)<ref>{{cite book \|last1=Wintz \|first1=Cary D. \|last2=Finkelman \|first2=Paul \|date=2004 \|title=Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance: A-J \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z6Cs0Y1pvRAC&q=%22let+us+Cheer+the+Weary+Traveler%22+robert+nathaniel+dett&pg=PA302 \|publisher=] \|page=302 \|isbn=157958389X }}</ref>
			*''O Hear the Lambs A-Cryin''' (1926)<ref name=":2" />
			*''Religious Folksongs of the Negro'' (1927), collection of arranged spirituals<ref name=":1" />
			*''The Cinnamon Grove'' (1928), a suite for solo piano<ref name=":1" />
			*''Ave Maria'' (1930)<ref name=":1" />
			*The Dett Collection of Negro Spirituals (1936)
			*''The Ordering of Moses'' (1937)
			*''Tropic Winter'' (1938), a suite for solo piano<ref name=":1" />
			*''Eight Bible Vignettes'' (1941–1943)
			*''I am the'' ''True Vine'' (1943), for piano<ref name=":1" />
			*''No More Auction Block'' (unpublished), for orchestra<ref name=":1" />

	== ~~See also~~ ==		===''In the Bottoms''===
			'''In the Bottoms''', subtitled "Suite caractéristique", is a ] for piano in five ].
	*]
			# "Prelude (Night)"
	*]
			# "His Song"
	*], one of his students
			# "Honey (Humoresque)"
	*]
			# "Barcarolle (Morning)"
	{{Portal\|Music\|Musical note nicu bucule 01.svg}}
			# "Dance (Juba)"
	{{Portal\|Music of Canada\|Maple Leaf (from roundel).png}}
	== References ==
	{{reflist}}
	{{DEFAULTSORT:Dett, Robert Nathaniel}}

			== Writings ==
			* "The Emancipation of Negro Music".<ref name=":1" /> ''Southern Workman'' (1918): 172–6.
			* "From Bell Stand to Throne Room".<ref name=":1" /> ''Etude Music Magazine'' 52 (1934): 79–80.

			==See also==
			{{Portal\|Music\|Canada}}
			* ]
			* ]
			* ]
			* ], one of his students

			==References==
			{{Reflist\|2}}

			==Further reading==
			* Brooks, Christopher. "Dett, R(obert) Nathaniel." In ''Grove Music Online.'' Oxford University Press, 2001. Accessed February 12, 2021.
			*Dett, R. Nathaniel. ''The Dett Collection of Negro Spirituals.'' 4 books. Chicago: Hall & McCreary Company, 1936.
			*Dett, R. Nathaniel. ''Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro as Sung at Hampton Institute.'' Hampton, Va.: Hampton Institute Press, 1927.
			*Gray, Arlene E. ''Listen to the Lambs: A Source Book of the R. Nathaniel Dett Materials in the Niagara Falls Public Library, Niagara Falls, N.Y.'' 1984.
			* Hughes, Rupert. "Dett, Robert Nathaniel." In ''The Biographical Dictionary of Musicians,'' edited and revised by Deems Taylor and Russell Kerr, 126. New York: Blue Ribbon Books, 1940.
			* Library of Congress. Accessed February 12, 2021.
			*McBrier, Vivian Flagg. ''R. Nathaniel Dett: His Life and Works, 1882-1943.'' Washington: Associated Publishers, 1977.
			*Schenbeck, Lawrence. ''Racial Uplift and American Music, 1878-1943.'' Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2012.
			*Simpson, Anne Key. ''Follow Me: The Life and Music of R. Nathaniel Dett.'' Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1993.
			*Southern, Eileen. ''The Music of Black Americans: A History.'' New York: Norton, 1983.
			*Spencer, Jon Michael, ed. ''The R. Nathaniel Dett Reader: Essays on Black Sacred Music.'' Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1991.
			*Spencer, Jon Michael. "R. Nathaniel Dett's Views on Preservation of Black Music." ''The Black Perspective in Music'' 10, no. 2 (1982): 132-148.

			==External links==
			{{Archival records\|title=R. Nathaniel Dett collection\|location=Eastman School of Music Archives\|description_URL=https://www.esm.rochester.edu/sibley/specialcollections/findingaids/dett/}}{{Archival records\|title=Dr. Nathaniel Dett Papers\|location=E.H. Butler Library\|description_URL=https://library.buffalostate.edu/archives/mfc/dett\|dates=1882-1943}}

			* {{IMSLP\|id=Dett, Robert Nathaniel}}
			* at Sibley Music Library, Eastman School of Music
			* at Michigan State University
			* at E. H. Butler Library, SUNY Buffalo State
			* {{Librivox author \|id=13702}}

			{{Authority control}}

			{{DEFAULTSORT:Dett, Robert Nathaniel}}
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Latest revision as of 06:38, 13 October 2023

Canadian-American Black composer (1882–1943) "Dett" redirects here. For the town in Hope County, Zimbabwe, see Dete.

Robert Nathaniel Dett

Born	(1882-10-11)October 11, 1882 Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Died	October 2, 1943(1943-10-02) (aged 60) During a USO tour
Resting place	Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Pen name	R. Nathaniel Dett
Occupation	Composer, choral director, organist, pianist

Robert Nathaniel Dett (October 11, 1882 – October 2, 1943), often known as R. Nathaniel Dett and Nathaniel Dett, was a Canadian-American composer, organist, pianist, choral director, and music professor. Born and raised in Canada until the age of 11, he moved to the United States with his family and had most of his professional education and career there. 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 after the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) was organized. 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.

Early life

Dett was born in 1882 in Drummondville, Ontario (now part of Niagara Falls, Ontario), to Charlotte (Washington) Dett and Robert T. Dett. Descended from escaped slaves who travelled North, his mother was a native of Drummondville and his father was from the United States. The young Dett studied piano at an early age, showing initial interest when he was three years old and starting piano lessons at the age of five. When he was a child, his mother directed him to study Shakespeare, Longfellow and Tennyson, and commit passages to memory.

In 1893, the family moved over the border to Niagara Falls, New York. At about age 14, Dett played piano for his local church, the Methodist Mission Church, later renamed to R. Nathaniel Dett Memorial Chapel. 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 in Ohio, where he first encountered the practice of incorporating spirituals in classical music. He heard the music of Antonín Dvořák, a Czech composer who had toured the United States and incorporated elements of American music in his own work, including the New World Symphony. He was also influenced by the composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor who composed a set of three cantatas called The Song of Hiawatha based on a poem of the same name by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Some of the music reminded Dett of the spirituals he had learned from his grandmother. He was the first black American to complete the Bachelor of Music degree at Oberlin (1908), for which he studied composition and piano. Dett toured as a concert pianist and during this period wrote only rudimentary piano compositions. He came under the influence of Emma Azalia Hackley, a soprano singer, who inspired his interest in black American folk music.

Career

After graduation, Dett started teaching at Tennessee's Lane College, followed by a tenure at the Lincoln Institute in Jefferson City, Missouri. During this period, his compositional activities included writing practical choral and piano pieces suitable for his students. The 1913 piece In the Bottoms contains one of his most played movements, "Dance Juba". Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler performed the work at the Chicago Music Hall. In 1913 Dett began to teach at the Hampton Institute in Virginia, and in 1926 became the first black director of music there. He remained at Hampton until 1932. During his nearly twenty-year tenure, he founded the Hampton Choral Union, Musical Arts Society, Hampton Institute Choir and its School of Music. Internationally-recognized, the choir specialized in African American sacred music and performed Dett's own compositions and arrangements. Sometimes, his arrangements were criticized for being "inauthentic" due to their similarities with Western classical music. He encouraged his Hampton student, soprano Dorothy Maynor, to pursue a career as a concert artist; she followed his advice to become one of the leading concert artists in the nation.

Dett as shown in a Library and Archives Canada photo

His position as a major pianist-composer was earned in 1914. His piece Magnolia was performed at the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Club. On June 3 that year he performed Magnolia and In the Bottoms. The Chicago Evening Post reported that among the works on the "All Colored" program, his works were the most innovative, and it praised his high level of piano skills.

On December 27, 1916, Dett married Helen Elise Smith. She was the first black graduate of the Institute of Musical Art in New York City, which became known as the Juilliard School of performing arts.

In 1918, Dett wrote of his compositional goals:

We have this wonderful store of folk music—the melodies of an enslaved people ... But this store will be of no value unless we utilize it, unless we treat it in such manner that it can be presented in choral form, in lyric and operatic works, in concertos and suites and salon music—unless our musical architects take the rough timber of Negro themes and fashion from it music which will prove that we, too, have national feelings and characteristics, as have the European peoples whose forms we have zealously followed for so long.

Throughout his lifetime, Dett continued to study music, including studies at many prestigious institutions such as the American Conservatory of Music, at Columbia University, Northwestern University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard. Each summer, he attended major national institutions. In 1919, he founded the Musical Arts Society which organized concerts with artists such as Marian Anderson, Henry T. Burleigh, Grainger, Roland Hayes, Sousa and Clarence Cameron White and the Belgian Royal Band who presented Dett with the Palm and Ribbon Award. From 1920 to 1921, he attended Harvard University, where he studied with Arthur Foote, winning two prizes. Don't Be Weary Traveller, a choral composition, won the Francis Boott Award, while his essay "The Emancipation of Negro Music" won the Bowdoin prize. His interest in composition had to accommodate his demands of teaching and administration. Percy Grainger recorded the "Juba" from In the Bottoms during Dett's year at Harvard.

Dett also composed collections of spirituals, which he had arranged, including Religious Folksongs of the Negro (1927) and The Dett Collections of Negro Spirituals (1936). Dett received a Holstein prize for his contributions as a composer.

From 1924 to 1926, Dett served as president of The National Association of Negro Musicians. Founded in Chicago in 1919, the association is the United States' oldest organization dedicated to the preservation, encouragement, and advocacy of all genres of African-American music. He also became involved with the National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools.

In 1929, Dett travelled to France to study at the Fontainebleau school of music with composer Nadia Boulanger. He earned a Masters of Music degree at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester in 1932.

In 1933, after resigning from the Hampton Institute, Dett served as the choral conductor for Stromberg-Carlson's NBC radio broadcasts. He wrote the oratorio The Ordering of Moses (1937). It was conducted by Eugene Goosens in its premiere on May 7, 1937, with a chorus of 350 and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at the Cincinnati May Festival in Ohio.

From 1937 until 1942, Dett served as Visiting Director of Music at Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina. With its chorus he toured across Canada and the United States. They also performed on CBS radio broadcasts.

Late in his career, Dett shifted his style from that of his earlier neo-romantic works and adopted more contemporary idioms. In this later period he wrote piano suites such as American Ordering of Moses (1937), Tropic Winter (1938), and Eight Bible Vignettes (1941–1943)—his final piano suite.

Dett joined the United Service Organization (USO) as a choral advisor to contribute to the war efforts in supporting US troops during World War II. Travelling with the USO chorus, he died of a heart attack on October 2, 1943. He was buried beside his wife as well as his two daughters, in the town of his birth at Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

Legacy and honours

In the 2000s, Dett is remembered most for his work in creating music in the style of the European Romantic composers that incorporated elements of African-American spirituals. His music is still performed in the 2000s. Canada's Nathaniel Dett Chorale, founded in 1998, was named for him and performs his music as well as that of other composers of African descent. The chorale is one of many that has recorded his music. In 2022 a previously unknown orchestral version of his Magnolia Suite Part Two: No 4 “Mammy” was found in a US archive.

In 2014, his oratorio The Ordering of Moses was revived by the Cincinnati May Festival, and performed the same week in Music Hall in Cincinnati and at Carnegie Hall in New York. The incident from the world premiere in 1937, when the live broadcast was cut off by the NBC network during the performance, was re-created, using tapes of the announcer. There is no documented account of the reason for the interruption of the broadcast.

In 1934 Dett, and/or his publisher, registered strong objections to saxophonist Frank Trumbauer's swing band adaptation of "Juba Dance", from the suite In the Bottoms. Brunswick Records was compelled to withdraw the recording (#6763) from release.

Dett did little recording of his music. In 1912 he recorded five selections from the Magnolia Suite for QRS piano rolls. These are believed to be the first commercial piano rolls ever made by a black pianist. In 1919 he recorded two selections for Broome Special Phonograph Records, "Mammy" from Magnolia Suite and "Barcarolle" from In the Bottoms. The latter can be found on the CD Lost Sounds, Archeophone ARCH 1005.

In 1993 Anne Key Simpson published a biography of Dett, Follow Me: the Life and Music of R. Nathaniel Dett.

The former British Methodist Episcopal Church in Niagara Falls, Ontario, was renamed in honour of Dett. From 1898 to 1903, he was the organist at that church. The church was designated in 2001 as a National Historic Site of Canada.

The Robert Nathaniel Dett Elementary School in Chicago is named for him.

Awards and honours

Bowdoin Literary Prize (1921), for his essay, "The Emancipation of Negro Music", from Harvard.
Francis Boott Music Award for his choral composition "Don't be Weary Traveller," from Harvard.
Harmon Foundation Award.
Honorary Doctorate (1924) from Howard.
Honorary Doctorate (1926) from Oberlin College.

Compositions and arrangements

Many of his works were published, includes those for piano, choir, voice, organ, and orchestra:

After the Cakewalk (1900)
Cave of the Winds (1902), march and two-step
Magnolia (1912), suite for solo piano
In the Bottoms (1913), a "characteristic suite" of five movements
Listen to the Lambs (1914), "a religious character in the form of an anthem"
Music in the Mine (1916), a choral work
I'll Never Turn Back no More (1916)
The Chariot Jubilee (1921), for tenor, chorus, and orchestra.
Don't be Weary, Traveler (1921)
Enchantment (1922), a suite for solo piano
Listen to the Lambs (1923)
Let us Cheer the Weary Traveller (1926)
O Hear the Lambs A-Cryin' (1926)
Religious Folksongs of the Negro (1927), collection of arranged spirituals
The Cinnamon Grove (1928), a suite for solo piano
Ave Maria (1930)
The Dett Collection of Negro Spirituals (1936)
The Ordering of Moses (1937)
Tropic Winter (1938), a suite for solo piano
Eight Bible Vignettes (1941–1943)
I am the True Vine (1943), for piano
No More Auction Block (unpublished), for orchestra

In the Bottoms

In the Bottoms, subtitled "Suite caractéristique", is a suite for piano in five movements.

"Prelude (Night)"
"His Song"
"Honey (Humoresque)"
"Barcarolle (Morning)"
"Dance (Juba)"

Writings

"The Emancipation of Negro Music". Southern Workman (1918): 172–6.
"From Bell Stand to Throne Room". Etude Music Magazine 52 (1934): 79–80.

References

Canadian Musical Works 1900-1980, a bibliography of general and analytical sources. Ottawa: Canadian Association of Music Libraries, 1983 (ISBN 978-0-9690583-2-8).
Elaine Keillor, Music in Canada, capturing landscape and diversity, Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. 1939 (ISBN 0773531777).
Ezra Schabas; Lotfi Mansouri; Stuart Hamilton; James Neufeld; Robert Popple; Walter Pitman; Holly Higgins Jonas; Michelle Labrèche-Larouche; Carl Morey (December 17, 2013). Dundurn Performing Arts Library Bundle. Dundurn. pp. 398–. ISBN 978-1-4597-2401-3.
"R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943)". Library of Congress. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
^ "Robert Nathaniel Dett (October 11, 1882 – October 2, 1943) - Niagara Falls Museums". City of Niagara Falls History Museums. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
Natasha L. Henry (July 12, 2010). Emancipation Day: Celebrating Freedom in Canada. Dundurn. p. 248. ISBN 978-1-77070-547-0.
^ Southern, Eileen (1997). The Music of Black Americans: A History (3 ed.). W. W. Norton & Company.ISBN 0-393-97141-4
^ "Nathaniel Dett - Composer, Choir Leader, Pianist, Teacher, Poet, and Writer". Nathaniel Dett. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
^ Stephen Banfield, Jeremy Dibble, and Anya Laurence, "Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel," in Grove Music Online (Oxford University Press, 2013).
Zick, William J. "Robert Nathaniel Dett: African American composer, pianist & choral director". Retrieved January 2, 2005.
Canadian Music Catalogues and Acquisitions lists. Toronto, 1971- Various lists of Canadian music (orchestral, vocal, chamber, choral)
"Nathaniel Dett". The Canadian Encyclopedia, by Helmut Kallmann
^ Tim Brooks (October 1, 2010). Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890-1919. University of Illinois Press. pp. 488–492. ISBN 978-0-252-09063-9.
Alberge, Dalya. "BBC to air rediscovered work by 'one of greatest composers of African descent'". The Guardian. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
R. Nathaniel Dett British Methodist Episcopal Church, Directory of Designations of National Historic Significance of Canada
R. Nathaniel Dett British Methodist Episcopal Church, National Register of Historic Places
Robert Nathaniel Dett Elementary School, Chicago Public School System
"Dett, Robert Nathaniel", in The Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (1939), 1940 reprint, New York: Blue Ribbon Books.
"Dett: Piano Works / Denver Oldham - New World Records: 03667903 | Buy from ArkivMusic". www.arkivmusic.com. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
Wintz, Cary D.; Finkelman, Paul (2004). Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance: A-J. Routledge. p. 302. ISBN 157958389X.