Marian Anderson

Here is a great spiritual by the legendary diva Marian Anderson.
Arturo Toscanini claimed that contralto Marian Anderson had a voice that came along "once in a hundred years". But because she was black, Anderson's prospects as a classical singer in this country were initially quite limited. Eventually, however, the magnitude of her talent won her broad recognition in the United States. When she began touring regularly in this country in 1935, she was quickly acknowledged as the world's greatest contralto. Marian Anderson (1897-1993) is perhaps best remembered for her performance on Easter Sunday, 1939 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., which, commencing with a dignified and stirring rendition of America, attracted a crowd of more 75.000 of all colours and was a sensation with a national radio audience. Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She joined a junior church choir at the age of six, and applied to an all-white music school after her graduation from high school in 1921, but was turned away because she was black. Consequently, she continued her singing studies with a private teacher. She debuted with the New York Philharmonic on August 26, 1925 and scored an immediate success, also with the critics. In 1928, she sang for the first time at Carnegie Hall. Her reputation was further advanced by her tour through Europe in the early 1930s. In 1939, the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius made a new arrangement of the song Solitude and dedicated it to Anderson. On January 7, 1955, Anderson was the first African-American to perform with the New York Metropolitan Opera. In 1958 she was officially designated delegate to the United Nations, a formalization of her role as "goodwill ambassador" of the U.S. she played earlier, and in 1972 she was awarded the UN Peace Prize. After an extensive farewell tour, she retired from singing in 1965. Her achievements were recognized and honored with many prizes, including the Kennedy Center Honors in 1978 and a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement in 1991. In 1993, Anderson died at age 96 in Portland, Oregon. She is interred at Eden Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On January 27, 2005, a commemorative U.S. postage stamp honored Marian Anderson as part of the Black Heritage series.
Enjoy Marian Anderson's deep, magnificent voice!

Hear de lam's a-cryin'