Charles Faulkner Bryan

the long version

"This biography explores Bryan's life and work as a music educator, folk music performer and researcher, and composer, along the way providing new insights into southern culture, music, musicology, and folklore. Appalachian folk music was the connecting thread in the tapestry of Bryan's life, and Carolyn Livingston has woven the many strands of his career into a seamless account." "Drawing on previously untapped archives and on interviews with the Bryan family, Livingston depicts the rise of a hardworking musician and educator from the Tennessee mountain country. As a folklore advocate, Bryan composed music that reflected both the preservation and the transformation of regional culture, and his performances in that genre drew audiences to college campuses well before the folk music revival of the 1960s." "But it was a southern Americanist composer that Bryon offered a unique perspective on the American neo-romantic scene of the 1930s and 1940s. He incorporated black spirituals, white spirituals, and Appalachian folk tunes into larger works, such as his folk opera Singin' Billy. His choral arrangements, including See Me Cross the Water, represented his joy in music and celebration, and his White Spiritual Symphony reflected his appreciation of his heritage with such themes as Goin' Over Jordan. Livingston discusses selected examples of his music in detail."--Jacket.