J. Rosamond Johnson

1873 - 1954

About

J. Rosamond Johnson(1873-1954) was a composer and singer during the Harlem Renaissance. Johnson, from Jacksonville, Florida is most notable as the composer of Lift Every Voice and Sing  which has come to be known in the United States as the "Black National Anthem". His brother, poet James Weldon Johnson, wrote the lyrics of the famous piece. Johnson was trained at the New England Conservatory and then studied in London. His career began as an interesting public school teacher in his hometown. Traveling to New York, he began his show business career along with his brother and Bob Cole. As a songwriting team, they wrote works such as The Evolution of Ragtime (1903). Among the earliest works by the group, this was a suite of six songs of "Negro" music. They produced two successful Broadway operettas with casts of black actors: Shoo-Fly Regiment of 1906 and The Red Moon of 1904. They also created and produced several "white" musicals: Sleeping Beauty and the Beast in 1901, In Newport in 1904, and Humpty Dumpty in 1904. Rosamond would also collaborate to create Hello, Paris with J. Leubrie Hill in 1911. The London production of Lew Leslie's Blackbirds of 1936 engaged Johnson as musical director. During the 1930s, Johnson also played the Lawyer in the original production of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, taking roles in other dramas as well. As an editor, he collected four important works. The first two of these song collections he compiled along with his brother James: The Book of American Negro Spirituals (1925) and The Second Book of Negro Spirituals (1926). In addition, Johnson edited Shoutsongs (1936) and the folksong anthology Rolling Along in Song (1937).

Related Information

http://www.darryltaylor.com/alliance/composers/j-rosamond-johnson

Works by J. Rosamond Johnson