Sancho: Music of an 18th Century Black Englishman The Raritan Players & Rebecca Cypess

• Ignatius Sancho (1729 - 1780):
• 1 Sancho: Minuets, etc, Book II: No. 13, Minuet in E-Flat Major (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 01:41
• 2 Sancho: Minuets, etc, Book II: No. 18, The Friendly Visit (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 00:53
• 3 Sancho: A Collection of New Songs: No. 1, The Complaint (Arr. for Voice, Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 02:14
• 4 Sancho: 12 Country Dances: No. 8, Strawberrys and Cream (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 00:49
• 5 Sancho: Minuets, etc, Book II: No. 20, Hornpipe in B-Flat Major (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 01:08
• Anonymous:
• 6 Anonymous: New Instructions for the French Horn: Horse Grenadier's March (Arr. for Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 00:45
• Ignatius Sancho:
• 7 Sancho: Minuets, etc, Book I: No. 3, Minuet in G Major (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 00:50
• Thomas Arne (1710 - 1778):
• 8 Arne: Ode upon Dedicating a Building to Shakespeare: Sweetest Bard (Arr. for Voice, Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 02:37
• Ignatius Sancho:
• 9 Sancho: Minuets, etc, Book II: No. 16, Sir Harry Flutter (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 00:36
• Anonymous:
• 10 Anonymous: New Instructions for the French Horn: Minuet in C Major (Arr. for Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 01:34
• Ignatius Sancho:
• 11 Sancho: Minuets, etc, Book I: No. 1, Minuet in F Major (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 01:01
• 12 Sancho: A Collection of New Songs: No. 2, Sweetest Bard (Arr. for Voice, Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 02:35
• 13 Sancho: Minuets, etc, Book I: No. 5, Minuet in F Major - No. 6, Minuet in F Major (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 01:03
• 14 Sancho: Minuets, etc, Book I: No. 9, Les contes des fees (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 00:44
• 15 Sancho: Minuets, etc, Book I: No. 2, Minuet in B-Flat Major (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 01:44
• 16 Sancho: 12 Country Dances: No. 5, Lord Dalkeiths Reel (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 00:42
• 17 Sancho: 12 Country Dances: No. 10, The Royal Bishop (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 01:11
• 18 Sancho: A Collection of New Songs: No. 3, Anacreon Ode XXIII (Arr. for Voice, Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 04:11
• 19 Sancho: 12 Country Dances: No. 12, Mungos Delight (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Rebecca Cypess) 01:27
• 20 Sancho: Minuets, etc, Book I: No. 22, La maison de la reine (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 00:58
• 21 Sancho: A Collection of New Songs: No. 4, Thou Softly Flowing Avon (Arr. for Voice, Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 03:56
• Anonymous:
• 22 Anonymous: New Instructions for the French Horn: The Echo Tune (Arr. for Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 00:42
• Ignatius Sancho:
• 23 Sancho: Minuets, etc, Book II: No. 5, Minuet in C Major (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 01:29
• 24 Sancho: The Runaway (Arr. for Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 00:36
• 25 Sancho: Minuets, etc, Book I: No. 10, Christmas Eve (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 00:38
• 26 Sancho: A Collection of New Songs: No. 5, Kate of Aberdeen (Arr. for Voice, Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Jonathan Battishill) 02:21
• 27 Sancho: Minuets, etc, Book II: No. 11, Minuet in G Minor (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Rebecca Cypess) 02:38
• 28 Sancho: Minuets, etc, Book II: No. 15, Gavotta in A Major (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 00:51
• 29 Sancho: A Collection of New Songs: No. 5, Kate of Aberdeen (Arr. for Voice, Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 02:45
• 30 Sancho: Minuets, etc, Book II: No. 19, Who'd a Thought It (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 00:52
• 31 Sancho: The Feathers (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 01:10
• 32 Sancho: Corporal Trim (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 00:38
• 33 Sancho: Minuets, etc, Book II: No. 1, Minuet in D Major (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 01:10
• 34 Sancho: Minuets, etc, Book II: No. 14, Air in D Major (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 01:21
• 35 Sancho: The Sampler (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 00:42
• 36 Sancho: Shandy Hall (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 00:58
• 37 Sancho: A Collection of New Songs: No. 6, Friendship, Source of Joy (Arr. for Voice, Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 03:56
• 38 Sancho: Minuets, etc, Book II: No. 17, Richmond Hill (Arr. for Fortepiano & Chamber Ensemble by Anonymous) 01:01
• Total Runtime 56:27

Info zu Sancho: Music of an 18th Century Black Englishman

Ignatius Sancho (c. 1729–1780) was a Black writer, musician, composer, butler, and shopkeeper whose writings and public presence helped ignite the British abolitionist movement. Reportedly born into slavery and orphaned as a toddler, Sancho was denied access to a formal education until he entered the household of the Duke of Montagu, where he gained an education in European literature, music, and other arts. Sancho’s correspondence, published posthumously as Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African (1782), reflects his engagement with the sentimental literary style and covers topics from his everyday experiences and relationships to his fierce opposition to the international slave trade.

Although Sancho’s letters are known in some circles today, his musical compositions have largely evaded serious attention. The Raritan Players offer a new account of Sancho’s songs and instrumental music.

Sonya Headlam, soprano
The Raritan Players
Rebecca Cypess, director

Rebecca Cypess
founder and director of the Raritan Players, is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. A historical keyboardist and scholar, she frequently presents recitals and lecture-recitals based on her current research, with recent performances at venues such as the American Philosophical Society, the Bloomington Early Music Festival, the Center for Jewish History, Duke University's collection of historical instruments, the "Chamber Music Live" series at Queens College, and many others. In addition to her work as a performer, Cypess is the author of Curious and Modern Inventions: Instrumental Music as Discovery in Galileo’s Italy (University of Chicago Press, 2016); Women and Musical Salons in the Enlightenment (University of Chicago Press, 2022); and over 40 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. She is co-editor of the volumes Sara Levy's World: Gender, Judaism, and the Bach Tradition in Enlightenment Berlin (University of Rochester Press, 2018) and Music and Jewish Culture in Early Modern Italy: New Perspectives (Indiana University Press, 2022).

Dongmyung Ahn
Early string specialist Dongmyung Ahn is a performer, educator, and scholar whose interests span from the twelfth to eighteenth centuries. She is co-founder of Guido’s Ear and has performed with the Sebastians, TENET Vocal Artists, Raritan Players, and Pegasus. She has played rebec in the The Play of Daniel at the Cloisters. A dedicated educator, Dongmyung is the director of the Queens College Baroque Ensemble and has taught music history at Vassar College and Queens College. She received her PhD in musicology at the Graduate Center, CUNY and has published an article on medieval liturgy in the Rodopi series Faux Titre.

Sonya Headlam
Soprano Sonya Headlam has performed across the United States and around the world, in South America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia. She is active in the New Jersey area as a music educator and singer of a diverse range of repertoire from the Baroque to the 21st century. Sonya began 2019 in the recording studio as the soprano soloist on the Trinity Wall Street Choir’s soon-to-be-released recording of Dreams of the New World, by Los Angeles-based composer Ellen Reid. Upcoming performances include a recital of art songs, folk songs and spirituals by African American and Caribbean composers, and, in April, the role of Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte with Light Opera of New Jersey. Sonya holds performance degrees from Miami University of Ohio, and she received additional training at Mannes College of Music in New York City. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance at the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University.

Eve Miller
is a freelance musician, recording artist, composer, and music educator. She received her bachelor’s degree in cello performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music and a master’s degree in Music History from Temple University, studying cello with David Teie, Stephen Kates and Jeffrey Solow, and baroque cello and viola da gamba with Ann Marie Morgan. Eve is currently principal cellist of Philadelphia’s Bach Collegium and is a member of the city’s leading baroque orchestra, Tempesta di Mare, having formerly served as its principal cellist. As a member of La Rocinante baroque ensemble, she helped to found Festival Internacional de Música Barroca de Barichara in Colombia. Eve has also performed, recorded, and toured as a rock cellist in bands such as Rachel’s, Matt Pond PA, and Lewis & Clarke. She has recorded and performed as a guest artist with The Swivel Chairs, Trolleyvox, Mazarin, Mission of Burma, Low, Arcwelder, Rosu Lup, and Swearing at Motorists, and frequently performs as a session cellist for rock and alternative artists. Eve composes music for film and theater, notably for the American Friends Service Committee’s 90th anniversary documentary Spirited Engagement, and has collaborated with the SITI Company of New York on several theater pieces.

Yi-heng Yang
In recent seasons, pianist Yi-heng Yang has appeared at The Boston Early Music Festival, The Finger Lakes Chamber Music Festival, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC), Friends of Mozart (NYC), MusicIC (Iowa City), The Midtown Series at St Bart’s (NYC), Music Matters (Connecticut), Serenata of Santa Fe, Sunday Chatter (Albuquerque), Apple Hill Chamber Music Festival (NH), The Cobbe Collection (UK), The Finchcocks Collection (UK), and The Frederick Collection (MA). A dynamic collaborator, she works with such groups as The Sebastians, Gretchen’s Muse, and Trio Pasqualati, and will be directing a festival of chamber music this Fall at the Frederick Collection of Historical Pianos. Her recording of the complete Mendelssohn Violin Sonatas on period instruments, with violinist Abigail Karr, has recently been issued on the Old Focus label. She holds a doctorate in piano performance from The Juilliard School, where her teachers were Veda Kaplinsky, Julian Martin, and Robert McDonald. She studied fortepiano there with Audrey Axinn and also earned a Masters of fortepiano from the Amsterdam Conservatory, where she worked with Stanley Hoogland. Yang lives with her husband and son in New York City, and is on the piano faculty of The Juilliard School’s Evening Division.

Steven Zohn
performs on historical flutes with many ensembles in the eastern United States, including (in his home base of Philadelphia) the Bach Collegium and Night Music. From 1995 to 2004 he served as founding Artistic Director of the period-instrument orchestra Publick Musick in New York State. In addition to concertizing, he has taught for The Juilliard School’s graduate program in historical performance and Amherst Early Music. His contributions to the study and performance of early music was recognized by the American Musicological Society with its Noah Greenberg Award. Among his recordings are world premieres of recently discovered Telemann flute duets and the composer’s moral cantatas, with soprano Julianne Baird. Also active as a musicologist, he has published widely on eighteenth-century topics, especially on Telemann and the Bach family, and is Laura H. Carnell Professor of Music History at Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance.

Booklet für Sancho: Music of an 18th Century Black Englishman