| Book Projects  Craig's latest book, Seven Keys to Hearing God's Voice is available now from Hensley Publishers. Order your copy here.
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an excerpt More from Hensley Publishers
Other books by Craig von Buseck: The
Lamplighter: The Life and Music of Harry T. Burleigh The Lamplighter Book Proposal
Read
an excerpt The Lamplighter
Book Idea Receiving From God: The Peter, Paul, and Mary Principle Read
an excerpt
Netcasters: Using the Internet to Make Fishers of Men
The
Lamplighter Book Idea THE LAMPLIGHTER chronicles the ascent of the
great African-American composer Harry T. Burleigh from poverty to international
musical acclaim in the midst of the grueling oppression of Jim Crow segregation
in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Like Alex Hailey's Roots, this
narrative biography describes one family's rise from slavery to success in America.
It is a legacy that follows Burleigh's ancestors from a plantation on Maryland's
Easter Shore to freedom in Pennsylvania on the shores of Lake Erie. We watch as
they participate in the abolitionist movement and the Underground Railroad. The
family rejoices in emancipation, and groans under segregation and bigotry. We
follow Harry T. Burleigh through the Gilded Age, the Harlem Renaissance, two economic
depressions and two world wars. It is a classic American story of a family overcoming
daunting obstacles to achieve their most fantastic dreams -- as a result of hard
work, education, strong family ties, and faith in God. As THE LAMPLIGHTER
tells Burleigh's story, it also describes the birth of American music in the person
of Harry T. Burleigh. At the height of his career, Dr. Burleigh gained the reputation
as the "Dean of the Negro Spiritual," publishing more than 100 arrangements and
saving some from obscurity. This book shows how Harry first learned the plantation
songs from his grandfather, a former slave who purchased his freedom and then
worked as an abolitionist to help others to freedom. At an early age Harry
was also trained in classical European music by his mother, who learned it from
her Scotch-Indian mother. The melding of these to disparate forms of music in
the person of Harry T. Burleigh came to a culmination when he won a scholarship
to the National Conservatory in New York City. It was there that he met the great
Bohemian composer, Antonin Dvorak, and influenced the writing of the New World
Symphony. Dvorak firmly believed that African-American plantation songs, and the
spirituals in particular, could be the foundation for American music, and he encouraged
Burleigh to, "…give them to the world." Many musical historians believe
that this was the beginning of a distinctive American style of music -- a foundation
that birthed the Blues, Gospel, Jazz, and Rock and Roll. But this book
is also about the struggle of an African-American man overcoming racial prejudice
and obtaining true equality. During the first half of the Twentieth Century
-- a time of tremendous racial turmoil in the United States -- an African-American
man named Harry T. Burleigh shined as a world-famous composer, arranger, internationally
respected editor, and courageous artistic pioneer. The grandson of a slave,
Burleigh overcame formidable obstacles to become a leader in the musical world
of his day. He is best known for his artistic arrangements of the Negro Spirituals.
His life and work bridged the gap between two races and two cultures and paved
the way for the emergence of a truly American style of music. He was a
friend of the great Bohemian composer Antonin Dvorak, and influenced the writing
of "The New World Symphony." He was also a personal friend of Booker T. Washington,
James Weldon Johnson, and J.P. Morgan. He sang before President Teddy Roosevelt
and King Edward VII of England at a time when African-Americans endured grueling
persecution in the U.S. For 52 years he served as the baritone soloist
at the prestigious St. George Episcopal Church in Manhattan -- the first black
person to hold that position. During the first quarter of this century,
his popular songs were performed by the greatest artists of the day. He was also
an editor at the renowned music-publishing house G. Ricordi and Sons in New York
City. Because of his outstanding achievements as an African-American, he became
only the third person to receive the Spingarn Medal from the N.A.A.C.P. But
his legacy remains his artistic arrangements of the hauntingly beautiful Negro
Spirituals -- many of which are still in use today. With the recent observance
of the fiftieth anniversary of his death, I believe the time has come to share
Harry T. Burleigh's dramatic story with the world. The Lamplighter Book Proposal
Read
an excerpt of The Lamplighter Contact
Craig von Buseck Receiving
From God: The Peter, Paul, and Mary Principle Read
an excerpt of Receiving From God Contact
Craig von Buseck
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