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could more easily be taught to produce the desired sound. Arrangements were commonly published for amateurs in order to increase the demand for the original band or orchestra. Only surviving today are the piano arrangements requested by publishers, along with skeleton guides of
Johnson's other arrangements. Johnson's elaborate and extended effects were apparently more important than his straightforward compositions. Foreshadowing the jazz era, his actual music was simple, allowing the composer to instruct the performers in developing more musically complex versions.
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Johnson successfully rivaled white musical organizations, receiving patronage from the public in spite of the considerable racial discrimination of the time. Available accounts show that his composition and playing must have had qualities which cannot be reconstructed from the surviving manuscripts.
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Unfortunately, only reviews from newspaper critics, audience members and programs survive to tell of the sounds produced by
Johnson. During this period, it was common to not write a complete score, since works were in such demand that this time-consuming task was best left as notes; the performers
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on June 16, 1792, and baptized three months later at St. Paul's
Episcopal Church on September 23. He directed military bands and society dance orchestras, taught music, and performed on the violin and keyed bugle. His early career consisted of performing for balls, parades, and dancing schools. He
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Johnson served as a teacher to wealthy
European-American students, one of whom wrote that the teacher's studio walls were covered with images of instruments, various instruments could be found around the room, and shelves were laden with thousands of musical collections. The student noted that
291:. His career flourished in the 1820s, as he performed arrangements of "fashionable" music for most of the major dance functions in Philadelphia. In 1837 Johnson and a small ensemble of African American musicians sailed to England to take part in the celebrations surrounding the ascent of
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musicians today, although the current practices and idioms are probably vastly different from the ones used by
Johnson. He was able to create interesting music, harmonies, and effects that differed from the diatonic harmonies and triadic melodies that were popular at that time.
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Historical accounts suggest that his performances infused stylistic rhythmic changes, differing from the written versions, which were either inferred by performers or instructed verbally. This is presumed to be similar to the improvisations made by
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astounded audiences as
Johnson's bugle was heard to "distinctly cry, 'Fire!' 'Fire!'" Johnson became associated with such dramatic effects, and imitations by his contemporaries were said to be far less effective.
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noted that nothing would be more natural than for a master such as
Johnson to perform at the grand LaFayette Ball. This notoriety is a hint as to why Johnson's music was included in compilations alongside
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Johnson was the first
African American composer to have his works published as sheet music. He also was the first African American to give public concerts and the first to participate in
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363:. When his Philadelphia brass band toured England in 1838, Johnson was able to play for Queen Victoria. After playing for Queen Victoria, she presented him with a silver bugle.
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began with the sound of steam, continued with the sound of passengers entering the cars, then concluded with the sound of the train reaching full speed. (Southern 112)
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Jones, Charles K. (2006) Francis
Johnson: Chronicle of a Black Musician in Early Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia. Bethlehem: Lehigh University Press. pp. 32-34.
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of singing while playing, which has become more common today as a way of providing wind instrumentalists a means of producing harmonies. The use of flute
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period. African
American composers were rare in the U.S. during this period, but Johnson was among the few who were successful. Performing as a
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to imitate the chirping of canaries in his "Bird Waltz" was "so natural that the keenest perception cannot discover the difference." Composers
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After Johnson's death, the Frank Johnson Orchestra continued to play under that name led by Joseph Anderson Sr. with music arrangements by
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in March 1841 at the First African Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, and later repeated the performance at a European-American church.
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and the violin, he wrote more than two hundred compositions of various styles—operatic airs, Ethiopian minstrel songs, patriotic marches,
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style. When Johnson returned from England in 1838 he introduced this new style of concert in Philadelphia during the Christmas season.
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concerts in the United States. He led the first American musical ensemble to present concerts abroad, and he introduced the
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Johnson also performed sacred music at black churches in Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. He staged a performance of
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Schwartz, Richard I. The Cornet Compendium: The History and Development of the Nineteenth-Century Cornet. 2001. p120
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Johnson's spot for composing contained unfinished manuscripts, with pen and ink ready for use.
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became popular during this period, particularly works that depicted battle. Johnson arranged
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235:(June 16, 1792 – April 6, 1844) was an American musician and prolific composer during the
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may have been influenced by Johnson's techniques. The orchestral version of Ravel's "
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Paul R. Betz, Mark Christopher Carnes, American Council of Learned Societies –
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and other dances. Only manuscripts and piano transcriptions survive today.
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Frank Johnson piano manuscript, 1820. The Library Company of Philadelphia.
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first became widely known in 1818 when George Willig published Johnson's
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The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music: Composers and Their Music
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The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music: Composers and Their Music
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557:(1 ed.). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's. pp. 316–317.
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White, Deborah Gray; Bay, Mia; Marin Jr., Waldo E. (2013).
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379:Francis Johnson Historical Marker, Philadelphia PA
417:newspaper reported that Johnson introduced the
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601:. W. W. Norton & Company; 3rd edition.
634:Biography of Johnson from the Penn Library
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643:International Music Score Library Project
108:Learn how and when to remove this message
616:American national biography: Supplement
599:The Music of Black Americans: A History
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299:. While there, he was exposed to the
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689:19th-century American male musicians
629:Master Musician, Performer, Composer
282:Francis "Frank" Johnson was born in
46:adding citations to reliable sources
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446:Philadelphia Fireman's Quadrille
186:Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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526:: Integrity Press. p. 377.
503:: Integrity Press. p. 406.
57:"Francis Johnson" composer
33:needs additional citations for
639:Free scores by Francis Johnson
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289:Collection of New Cotillions
684:Musicians from Philadelphia
514:Rehrig, William H. (1991).
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414:Philadelphia Public Ledger
284:Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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142:Background information
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459:The Battle of Prague
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463:New Railroad Gallop
407:Musical innovations
268:racially integrated
679:American composers
555:Freedom on My Mind
455:Frantisek Kotzwara
419:extended technique
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322:was performed for
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274:style to America.
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35:verification
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664:1844 deaths
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653:Categories
478:References
349:BurgmĂĽller
314:Johnson's
261:quicksteps
257:quadrilles
253:cotillions
245:Kent bugle
237:Antebellum
215:1810s–1844
163:1792-06-16
68:newspapers
444:The work
439:Tom Thumb
423:obbligato
357:Donizetti
337:Beethoven
278:Biography
98:July 2008
385:Creation
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