Amanda Christina Elizabeth Aldridge was a British opera singer, teacher, and composer. She wrote operas under the pseudonym Montague Ring. Her most well-known works include Three African Dances and On Parade. In addition to her singing, Aldridge also wrote several poems and plays. This article provides an overview of Aldridge’s life. For additional details, please visit Amanda Aldridge’s official website.
Amanda Ira Aldridge
In addition to being an accomplished composer and performer, Amanda Ira Aldridge was also an accomplished pianist. She published thirty songs in parlour music between 1907 and 1925 and also wrote many other pieces. Among her students were Marian Anderson and Roland Hayes. In her later years, she continued to write and perform, and made her first television appearance at age 88, on the British show, Music Foreign You.
Born in London, Amanda Ira Aldridge studied piano and voice at the Royal College of Music in London, where she was influenced by such renowned musicians as Jenny Lind. She also studied practical theory under Fredrick Bridge and Francis Edward Gladston, and she performed works by composers who faced discrimination in the 19th century. Despite her prestigious training, she suffered a laryngitis that resulted in permanent voice damage.
Amanda Ira Aldridge was the daughter of Ira Frederick Aldridge, a celebrated actor during the Victorian era. Her father was an African-American actor who had moved to England to pursue his career as an actor. He was one of the few black actors to be honored at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. After her father’s success, Amanda Ira Aldridge developed her own career in the performing arts. She was the youngest of four children, and was the last to leave her mother.
Amanda Ira Aldridge’s legacy goes far beyond her fame as a composer. She wrote thirty parlor love songs and many other pieces of music inspired by various genres. She also influenced black performers and writers by championing their human rights. Some of her famous pupils, Marian Anderson and Paul Robeson, are examples of her talent and impact. She is an inspiration for aspiring musicians. So go ahead and listen to her songs and appreciate the power of her legacy.
Although her singing career was cut short by laryngitis, she continued to write music and teach. She also became a vocal coach. She taught vocal performance to singer Lawrence Benjamin Brown and lyric tenor Roland Hayes. Although she had limited performance time due to laryngitis, her music left a significant legacy in the British music scene. Her works often incorporate African rhythms into the melodic style.
Besides performing classical opera, Aldridge was also an accomplished pianist and voice teacher. She also published original compositions. She taught voice to Black performers and published seven piano suites. Her eloquent and romantic love songs became classics of the period. There are many more pieces by Aldridge. If you are interested in learning more about Amanda Ira Aldridge, take the time to learn more about her life. There is a lot to be learned from her life and career!
As a young woman, Amanda had to balance her career with the care of her family. Her mother passed away in 1915, while her sister Luranah was an opera singer. Unfortunately, Luranah died of an overdose of aspirin in 1932. Despite this, Amanda remained determined to pursue her career. Amanda’s talent for teaching was recognized, and her many compositions were well-received.
Three African Dances
Inspired by the rhythms and melodies of West African drumming, Aldridge composed Three Africa Dances. Her other works include Azalea, An Assyrian Love Song, Blue Days of June, Little Brown Messenger, and the popular opera singer Marian Anderson. Her three African dances are among the best-known of her works. Aldridge also worked with civil rights activist Paul Robeson and opera singer Marian Anderson.
Despite the fact that Amanda Aldridge was of half African descent, she wrote many songs with her heritage in mind. Her friendship with Samuel Coleridge-Taylor led to her setting of two poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Three African Dances remains her most famous work and is often performed in recitals. Composer Patricia Hammond praised the compositions for their “instant humanity”.
During her lifetime, Aldridge composed more diverse types of music. Her parents’ influence was profound, and she pushed herself outside of the confines of classical music in the U.S. She wrote art songs for black audiences. Her career as a singer was brief, but she continued to perform as a pianist, vocal teacher, and composer. Despite her modest beginnings, her works continue to inspire us today.
After a throat injury cut short her performing career, Aldridge concentrated on teaching. She taught the piano and voice to lyric tenor Roland Hayes. Her music influenced black American folk music, and her compositions reached middle-class homes around the world. She made her television debut at age 88 on the popular ‘Music for You’ show. Her parlour music merged African, European, and American rhythms, and sold well.
While her reputation as a composer was shaky, Aldridge’s Three Africa Dances are still popular today. The composition was performed at Queens Small Hall, a venue where the London Philharmonic and BBC Symphony Orchestras swung. Aldridge had been an acclaimed pianist and singer under the pseudonym Montague Ring. Although she was not an opera singer, she was an accomplished pianist, accompanist, and teacher. Her father was a famous Shakesperian actor. She studied at the Royal College of Music, and her mother had studied under the legendary Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind.
On Parade
On Parade is a quick-step march written by Amanda Aldridge in 1914. It has a joyous rhythm and has been performed by orchestras for over 100 years. Aldridge, who published under the pseudonym Montague Ring, was an opera singer who also wrote and composed. She also published three Arabian dances and several romantic parlour songs. In the 1920s, her work was widely acclaimed.
In her later years, Aldridge focused on her black heritage and used it to express herself in music. She wrote over 30 parlor love songs and music inspired by a wide variety of musical genres. Her black heritage was also an inspiration in her work, and her song “Three African Dances” was influenced by West African drumming. In addition, she wrote three other songs that incorporated African musical material.
Though Aldridge’s career as a singer was cut short by an injury to her throat, she continued to play the piano and compose music. Her soft, soulful music, influenced by Black American music, gained popularity in middle-class households. In her eighties, Aldridge made her television debut in the U.K. on ‘Music For You’, a show that aimed to introduce new generations to some of the classic tunes that Aldridge had popularized. Aldridge passed away at the age of ninety in London.
After her concert career was interrupted by laryngitis, Amanda Aldridge turned her attention to being a music teacher. Among her students were Paul Robeson and Marian Anderson, the first African American to perform at the Metropolitan Opera. She also authored a piano piece that honours the heritage of her family. Amanda Aldridge died in London on 9 March 1956. This was a very rewarding career for a woman who was very talented and loved music.
Aside from her career as an opera singer, Amanda Aldridge was a self-described countess in Sweden. During her lifetime, she wrote several operas under the pseudonym Montague Ring. She was born on 10 March 1866 in Upper Norwood, London, and raised a Christian family. She studied composition at the Royal College of Music. Her siblings included Luranah, an operatic contralto who was almost the first Black opera singer in the Bayeurth Opera House. Amanda Aldridge’s mother and sister were both accomplished musicians.
Amanda Aldridge had to balance her career with the care of her ailing family members. She had an ailing mother, and her sister, Luranah, was an opera star. At fifteen, Amanda performed her first public performance as a singer. However, the tragedy of her death pushed her into a more private life. Amanda Aldridge on Parade
