A POOR NEGRO BOY WHO THRILLED A KING
One night, in the town of Erie, Pennsylvania, a poor negro boy stood,
knee-deep in snow, outside the windows of a large house listening to a
famous singer within. The name of the negro boy was Harry Burleigh. His
mother was sometimes employed as extra help when a party was given in
the big house, and she had told Harry that a great artist was to sing
that evening, and although it was nearly zero and he shivered in the
winter cold, the little fellow was so thrilled with the music that he
forgot the biting wind and the frost.
Harry’s grandfather had been a slave and partly as a result of the
hardships he endured became blind, yet he laboured hard to support his
family. Harry’s father died while he was a little fellow so he and his
mother had to depend upon the old blind man for much of their support.
For several years the grandfather was town-crier and the old blind
negro often roamed the streets ringing his bell and announcing some
news of general interest such as the hour of a funeral, or a meeting
to be held. Newspapers only came once a week so the old negro filled a
useful place in the town.
The boy’s widowed mother was glad to earn a few cents whenever she
could. She acted as janitress at a public school and often in the
evenings helped servants in the big houses. Harry sold papers, ran
errands, and did any odd chores he could find to do. Later he got work
as a lamplighter. There was no gas or electricity in those days in the
smaller towns and cities, and Harry got a job helping to keep the oil
lamps clean and attending to them each evening.
The negro boy attended school and while it was not like a modern
school he learned to read and write and--what interested him more
than anything else--he learned to sing. Poor, shabbily dressed,
and often hungry though he was, Harry forgot all these things when
the singing-lesson came around. He had a wonderful voice and soon
the attention of his teacher was attracted. He gave the lad every
encouragement and told him that some day he would be a great singer.
It was then that Harry’s mother told him of the music in homes where
she sometimes was employed and one evening, when a boy was needed at a
party to open the door for guests, she secured the place for Harry, and
there was no happier boy in all America that night than Harry Burleigh.
He continued to attend school through the day and he worked at nights.
There was scarcely anything he did not do during those years when he
and his mother battled against poverty. When he was sixteen he sang in
church choirs on Sundays, and in a Jewish synagogue on Saturdays, and
soon his fine voice made him known to musical people. But all the money
he could earn was needed at home and he so much wanted to get a musical
education.
He heard that the National Conservatory of Music in New York City
offered scholarships for young people whose voices gave promise and he
determined to try for one. He had to sing before several distinguished
musicians and he was a very nervous and worried lad that day, but
he did his best, and after some hesitation the judges granted him
a scholarship, and at last he began to study music in earnest.
Dvořák, the great Bohemian composer, was one of the directors of the
Conservatory and he was at once attracted to the negro boy. Harry sang
for him many old negro melodies and Dvořák was greatly pleased.
For four years Harry Burleigh studied hard every day. He knew that he
had a great privilege in being at the Conservatory and he made the
most of it. But always there was the struggle for daily bread. His
scholarship simply meant that he obtained free tuition. He still had to
provide for himself and his mother, and so there was a never ceasing
search for jobs that the home might be kept going. His mother was firm
in her belief that Harry would be a great singer and she helped in
every possible way.
For several years in the summer time he worked on the big lake
steamers, and then one year he secured a position in a Saratoga hotel.
While he was there he sang in an Episcopal church and he was told that
the position of baritone soloist at St. George’s Episcopal Church in
New York City was vacant and he determined to apply for the position.
This is one of the largest churches in New York and Harry found that
there were no less than sixty applicants, all eager to secure the
place, and he was the only coloured person applying. In spite of the
severe handicaps he had to face his wonderful full, rich voice overcame
all prejudice. He was selected for the place and for more than thirty
years he has filled the position and always given great satisfaction.
While his struggles were not at an end, Harry Burleigh had turned the
corner and he never had to face again the terrible hardships he had
known in his boyhood and young manhood. In addition to his work at St.
George’s he undertook to train other choirs in New York churches and he
was soon in great demand as a concert singer. He made several European
tours and everywhere he went his fine voice and modest behaviour won
for him a host of friends. He received a great welcome in England and
sang before the late King Edward VII who was greatly moved by his
singing. He also sang before other members of European royalty and
everywhere he won golden opinions.
In addition to being a singer of extraordinary power, Harry Burleigh
became a composer. He has composed the music for more than one hundred
songs in addition to several festival anthems for choruses. He has
also written the music for a large number of negro “spirituals” and
made these quaint old negro melodies known and loved the world over.
He has composed music for some of the greatest musicians, and made
possible much of their success. He composed the music for the song
“Little Mother of Mine” which John McCormack sang before one of the
largest audiences ever gathered in a concert hall. He was present when
the singer received a tremendous ovation and although McCormack wanted
him to acknowledge the applause, he modestly kept himself in the
background.
For several years he has held the position of musical editor of the
Ricordi Music Publishing House. No piece of music is submitted to them
which does not pass through his hands. With all his success as a singer
and composer and judge of music, Harry Burleigh remains as unspoiled
and modest as ever. When he has time in his busy life to think about
the past, no doubt there are several scenes which rise up in his
memory. No doubt he remembers the day when he proudly sang before King
Edward VII and other great occasions, but we are sure that sometimes
he thinks of that cold winter night when he stood knee-deep in snow
outside the big house where his mother worked, so that he might catch
the strains of the music from within.