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Creator
Abdul, Raoul
Call number
Sc MIRS Abdul 2010-08
Physical description
10 audio_recordings. 2 video_recordings
Language
English; Materials in English and German
Preferred Citation
Raoul Abdul audio and moving image collection, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division, The New York Public Library
Sponsor
An anonymous donor funded preliminary processing for this collection, and a grant from the Mellon Foundation supported the digitization.
Repository
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division
Access to materials
Appointment preferred: Request an in-person research appointment.

The Raoul Abdul audio and moving image collection consists of ten sound recordings and two video recordings of Raoul Abdul's performances, interviews, and broadcasts as a classical singer from 1953-1996.

Biographical/historical information

Raoul Abdul was a classical singer, author, and former assistant to the poet and writer Langston Hughes.

From a young age, Raoul Abdul (1929-2010) was passionate about German lieder, a classical music genre popular in the 18th and 19th centuries in which Romantic poetry is set to music. In pursuit of his passion, he studied at universities and conservatories in Ohio, New York, and Europe from the 1940s through the 1960s. In New York City, Abdul grew close to Langston Hughes and worked as his literary assistant from 1961-1967. He arranged a lieder-style recital program of poetry by Langston Hughes and others, together with African American spirituals and protest songs, entitled The Negro Speaks of Rivers, which toured the United States from 1964-1967. In addition to his musicianship, he was an accomplished writer and editor, publishing such works as 3000 Years of Black Poetry and Blacks in Classical Music among others. Beginning in 1976, he wrote a music criticism column called Reading the Score for the New York Amsterdam News for over three decades. During this time he made appearances on the radio and television, offering his expertise as a music historian. He was celebrated by organizations like the Harold Jackman Memorial Committee, and he received the Lift Every Voice Legacy Award from the National Opera Association in 2005. He died in 2010.

Scope and arrangement

The collection consists of ten sound recordings and two video recordings documenting Abdul's career from the 1950s through the 1990s. The majority of items were received as reels that contained two or more parts which have been described individually. All recordings are audio unless indicated otherwise. They are arranged chronologically in three series :

The Raoul Abdul audio and moving image collection is arranged in three series:

  • SERIES I: PERFORMANCES

    Six recordings document Raoul Abdul's performances of lieder, folk songs, and spirituals from early in his career, two performances of his recital program The Negro Speaks of Rivers which took place in Vienna and Cleveland, Ohio, and a performance of The Music of Howard Swanson at Carnegie Recital Hall.

  • SERIES II: INTERVIEWS

    This series includes two radio interviews in which Abdul discusses his experience performing around the world, his publications, Black musical expression in genres such as spirituals and opera, and his commitment to the legacy of Langston Hughes. Two video recordings are of Another View: Classically Black, a two-part public television documentary about Black classical music, in which Abdul discusses the work of Black composers and musicians.

  • SERIES III: COLLECTED

    Recordings that Abdul collected presumably as research for writing and editing his books include performances of works by other Black composers and performers such as William Grant Still, Primous Fountain, Scott Joplin, and Leontyne Price.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Estate of Raoul Abdul, 2010.

Revision History

Item scope and content notes and AMI identifiers revised for clarity by Lyric Evans-Hunter. (2024-04-12)

Processing information

Collection inventoried by Stacey Doyle Ference. Collection processed and described by Lyric Evans-Hunter, archivist; and Shola Lynch, curator. Finding aid published in 2023.

Separated material

Papers transferred to Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division. See Raoul Abdul papers, Sc MG 833.

Photographs transferred.

Using the collection

Location

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division
515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801
Third Floor

Access to materials

Appointment preferred: Request an in-person research appointment.