Irene Britton Smith

Irene Britton Smith (December 22, 1907 – February 15, 1999) was an American classical composer and educator.

Biography

Childhood and youth Irene Britton Smith was born on December 22, 1907, in Chicago, Illinois as the youngest of four siblings. She was of African-American, Crow, and Cherokee descent.

Adult life Smith wanted to study music at Northwestern University but her family could not afford to send her there. Smith was an advocate of the phono-visual method of teaching reading and Chicago University Press published her monograph on the topic, Methods and Materials for Teaching Word Perception in Kindergarten Through Grade Three, in 1960.

Musical activity As a child Smith studied piano with V. Emanuel Johnson and took violin lessons.

From 1946 to 1947 Smith took a sabbatical from teaching to complete graduate work at the Juilliard School of Music, where she studied composition with Vittorio Giannini.

Works

This is a list of works by Smith.

Violin

Reminiscence for violin, piano, 1941 Sonata for Violin and Piano, 1947 (published by Vivace Press in 1996)

Piano

Invention in Two Voices, 1940 Passacaglia and Fugue in C-sharp Minor, 1940 (published by Vivace Press in 2001) Nocturne, 1945 Variations on a Theme by MacDowell, 1947 (published by Vivace Press in 2001) Two Short Preludes for Piano, 1953 (published by Vivace Press in 2001) Fugue in A Flat Major, n.d. Prelude, n.d. Preludes I and II (arrangement of Béla Bartók), n.d.

Instrumental ensemble

Fugue in G minor, for violin, viola, cello, 1938

Orchestra

Sinfonietta, 1956 Autumnal Reverie, n.d. Sonata No. III (arrangement of Edvard Grieg), n.d. Three Fantastic Dances (arrangement of Dmitri Shostakovich), n.d. Untitled-Variations on a Theme, n.d.

Solo voice

Dream Cycle for soprano, piano (song cycle, text by Paul Laurence Dunbar) 1947 "Let Us Break Bread Together" for baritone/soprano/mezzo (spiritual), 1948 "Trees of the Night" for soprano, piano, 1954 "The Angel Roll the Stone Away" for voice, piano (spiritual, incomplete), n.d. "Psalm 121" for voice, piano (incomplete), n.d.

Vocal ensemble

"Born Free" for two voices (spiritual), n.d. "Let Us Break Bread Together" for mezzo, soprano, baritone (spiritual), n.d. "Not a Word" for solo voice and four male voices (spiritual), n.d. "Panis Angelicus" for three voices, n.d. "Psalm 25" for three female voices, n.d. "Swing Low" and "Were You There" for three female voices (combined spirituals), n.d.

Chorus

"God Is Our Refuge/Psalm 46" for SATB, solo baritone, piano, 1940 "Fairest Lord Jesus" for SA, organ, 1945 (hymn, published by G. Schirmer in 1946) "Born Anew" for SATB, solo baritone, organ, 1952 "Good Morning" for unison voices, piano, n.d. "It's Me, O Lord" for SSA (spiritual), n.d. "Psalm 130" for SATB, organ, n.d. "The Story of Crosspatch" for SATB, n.d.

Discography

Sonata for Violin and Piano on Kaleidoscope: Music by African-American Women. Gregory Walker, Helen Walker-Hill. Leonarda Productions CD, LE 339, 1995.