Passage II

PROSE FICTION: This passage is adapted from the biography Marian Anderson: A Singer's Journey by Allan Keiler (@2000 by Allan Keiler).

On December 30, 1935, manager Sol Hurok presented singer Marian Anderson in New York's Town Hall. She had been away from the United States for nearly two and a half years and Hurok, uncertain of the audience she would draw, chose the smaller theater for her homecoming rather than the more prestigious Carnegie Hall. One can only wonder whether he foresaw the extraordinary potential of the contralto singer whom he had agreed to manage, or the remarkable relationship they would enjoy.

By 1939, after only five concert seasons, Anderson had more than duplicated in America what she had achieved in Europe. In America, her fees had risen from $400 to $2,000 for most performances. With more engagements for Anderson than she could comfortably fulfill. Hurok's job was now "not to seek dates for Marian, but to winnow out the most attractive ones each season." To meet the repertoire needs of constantly expanding seasons, which included yearly appearances in many cities, she had to change programs more rapidly. In developing her repertoire, she had the help of a network of teachers on both sides of the Atlantic. She added an abundance of new material, exploring the more unusual, even esoteric byways of the vocal literature. Her programs had a striking cosmopolitanism, which she liked to emphasize particularly in her Carnegie Hall recitals. For her first recital there in 1939, she chose music by Spanish composers, a group of French chansons, a Tchaikovsky aria, music by American composers, and spirituals.

In only five seasons with Hurok, Anderson had become an indelible part of the American musical scene. Occasionally a critic preferred to maintain some appearance of sobriety in response to an Anderson concert. Olin Downes, for example, never comfortable with extravagant praise, held to his gravity of manner in reviewing Anderson's first New York recital in 1939: "Miss Anderson sings music by classic masters, not as a lesson learned, or a duty carefully performed, but as an interpreter who has fully grasped and deeply felt the import of the song." For the rest, critics threw caution to the winds, outdoing each other in their efforts to capture the excitement generated by Anderson's appearances. From New York to Buffalo to Milwaukee Anderson was rewarded with a triumphal chorus of brilliant reviews.

Of course, there was much more to Anderson's success than voice and art. In her every appearance, the unique qualities of her character and personality made themselves felt just as strongly as her technique and interpretations. Perhaps, in the end, what touched audiences most deeply was the provocative contradiction between the effortless warmth, sincerity, and dignity Anderson radiated and the quality of aloofness that was always present. The critic Glenn Dillard Gunn, after one of her Washington recitals, provided a moving portrait of Anderson's compelling hold on the imagination of her audiences: "Miss Anderson's power to move her listeners as can no other singer of her generation is not so made less by the simple, almost unsmiling dignity which clothes her like a garment. She holds herself aloof and doubtless with intention. Her eyes closed, her face expressionless, she retires into her world of song, inviting us to enter it, but remaining remote, not sharing her personality. Even in her moment of triumph the barrier is there."

Radio helped introduce Anderson's voice across America. With the waning of the economic hardships left behind by the Depression, radio opportunities for classical artists increased significantly. During the late thirties, her voice could be heard on such programs as the General Motors Hour, the Magic Key program and the Ford Hour. Her striking voice, never more opulent than in those years; the range of her programs, which included, in addition to spirituals, more popular numbers than she normally sang on concert programs: and the charm and radiance of her personality, so intimately bound up with her singing, made her an extraordinarily popular radio performer.

In the black community, Anderson's accomplishments as a singer and the sense of pride and purpose she inspired brought her many honors. In January 1939, the NAACP announced that it would award Anderson the Spingarn Medal, given annually by its president. Joel Spingarn, "for the highest or noblest achievement by an American Negro during the preceding year or years." Since the inception of the Spingarn award in 1915, only two other musicians, Roland Hayes and Harry T. Burleigh, had been so honored.