I've searched but I haven't seen a thread on this. I feel if TC is to touch all the bases of classical music then this needs to be discussed.
Going through my sizable book collection, I came upon a series I had bought many years ago--"Sex and Race" by J. A. Rogers in three volumes. I remember reading these and finding them interesting although I didn't agree with a lot of the conjecture. For example, the black Madonna-and-child statues are not depicting Mary and Jesus as "Negro" as Rogers seems to think. Some of the other conjecture I cannot pass any judgment on as I am not an expert in these areas (or any areas to be painfully honest). One instance concerns Beethoven whom Rogers asserts had some African ancestry. Turns out it has quite a bit of presence on the internet both pro and con but Rogers was the first to raise the issue as far as I know.
Rogers presents some intriguing evidence (anecdotal though it is) of people who knew the composer or his biographers describing his complexion and facial traits:
"Rounded nose, black-brownish complexion." From Fischer's Beethoven The Man, Vol. 1, p. 1, 1929
"His beard--he had not shaved for several days--made the lower part of his already brown face still darker."--Carl Czerny from Beethoven: Impressions of his contemporaries, arranged by Oscar Sonneck, p. 26, 1926
From this same book, Beethoven is described as "dark" (Grillparzer, p. 154), "brown" (Bettina von Arnim, p.77), "brownish" (Rellstab, p. 180).
Gelinek describes him as "Short, ugly, dark" from Nohl's Beethoven Depicted By His Contemporaries, p. 37, 1880)
Fanny Giannatasio del Rio, who was in love with Beethoven, wrote in the biography, An Unrequited Love: An Episode in the Life of Beethoven, p.60, 1876: "Beethoven could not possibly be called a handsome man. His somewhat flat broad nose and wide mouth, his small piercing eyes and swarthy complexion, pockmarked into the bargain, gave him a strong resemblance to a mulatto."
According to Rogers, Beethoven's teacher, Haydn could also have been black and relates an incident of Beethoven biographer Thayer who heard from Andre de Hevesy who heard it from Carpani that when Prince Esterhazy first heard a new symphony he asked the name of the composer who was brought before him. "What!" exclaimed Esterhazy upon seeing Haydn for the first time, "the music is by this blackamoor? Well, my fine blackamoor, henceforward thou art in my service!" Carpani also stated that Haydn was after that frequently referred to as "the Moor." Rogers, though, does bring up the possibility that Haydn may actually have had a Turkish ancestry although he presents nothing concrete to back up the assertion.
Thayer brings up the incident in order to point that Beethoven "had even more of the Moor in his features than his master [Haydn]."
It should be an easy enough issue to settle, we have Beethoven's death mask:
Based on this alone, Beethoven could very well indeed have an African ancestry. I think all of us have seen black people that look like this. The real test is not so much that we study his ancestry or split hairs over whether he was Portuguese or Moorish as opposed to true "Negro." You can rationalize your way out of anything if you are determined enough. I agree with Rogers that the real test would be simply to dress him in American street clothes, stand him on any street corner in some city like Detroit or DC or Chicago or Compton and see how many people would immediately assume him to be just another black man.
Going through my sizable book collection, I came upon a series I had bought many years ago--"Sex and Race" by J. A. Rogers in three volumes. I remember reading these and finding them interesting although I didn't agree with a lot of the conjecture. For example, the black Madonna-and-child statues are not depicting Mary and Jesus as "Negro" as Rogers seems to think. Some of the other conjecture I cannot pass any judgment on as I am not an expert in these areas (or any areas to be painfully honest). One instance concerns Beethoven whom Rogers asserts had some African ancestry. Turns out it has quite a bit of presence on the internet both pro and con but Rogers was the first to raise the issue as far as I know.
Rogers presents some intriguing evidence (anecdotal though it is) of people who knew the composer or his biographers describing his complexion and facial traits:
"Rounded nose, black-brownish complexion." From Fischer's Beethoven The Man, Vol. 1, p. 1, 1929
"His beard--he had not shaved for several days--made the lower part of his already brown face still darker."--Carl Czerny from Beethoven: Impressions of his contemporaries, arranged by Oscar Sonneck, p. 26, 1926
From this same book, Beethoven is described as "dark" (Grillparzer, p. 154), "brown" (Bettina von Arnim, p.77), "brownish" (Rellstab, p. 180).
Gelinek describes him as "Short, ugly, dark" from Nohl's Beethoven Depicted By His Contemporaries, p. 37, 1880)
Fanny Giannatasio del Rio, who was in love with Beethoven, wrote in the biography, An Unrequited Love: An Episode in the Life of Beethoven, p.60, 1876: "Beethoven could not possibly be called a handsome man. His somewhat flat broad nose and wide mouth, his small piercing eyes and swarthy complexion, pockmarked into the bargain, gave him a strong resemblance to a mulatto."
According to Rogers, Beethoven's teacher, Haydn could also have been black and relates an incident of Beethoven biographer Thayer who heard from Andre de Hevesy who heard it from Carpani that when Prince Esterhazy first heard a new symphony he asked the name of the composer who was brought before him. "What!" exclaimed Esterhazy upon seeing Haydn for the first time, "the music is by this blackamoor? Well, my fine blackamoor, henceforward thou art in my service!" Carpani also stated that Haydn was after that frequently referred to as "the Moor." Rogers, though, does bring up the possibility that Haydn may actually have had a Turkish ancestry although he presents nothing concrete to back up the assertion.
Thayer brings up the incident in order to point that Beethoven "had even more of the Moor in his features than his master [Haydn]."
It should be an easy enough issue to settle, we have Beethoven's death mask:
Based on this alone, Beethoven could very well indeed have an African ancestry. I think all of us have seen black people that look like this. The real test is not so much that we study his ancestry or split hairs over whether he was Portuguese or Moorish as opposed to true "Negro." You can rationalize your way out of anything if you are determined enough. I agree with Rogers that the real test would be simply to dress him in American street clothes, stand him on any street corner in some city like Detroit or DC or Chicago or Compton and see how many people would immediately assume him to be just another black man.