A Charlestonian Rhapsody: The Story of Edmund T Jenkins

Allyson Devenish uncovers the remarkable story of an African American composer and musician who made his life in London and Paris in the early twentieth century. Edmund Thornton Jenkins was a composer, musician and band leader from Charleston in South Carolina who travelled to London in 1914. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music for seven years and became a sub-professor. In 1919, at Wigmore Hall, he conducted his own work, A Folk Rhapsody, which incorporated themes from spirituals and songs of the Gullah fisherman of his native Charleston. As well as composing some of the earliest music in the European concert tradition to incorporate jazz rhythms and the folk melodies and spirituals of his home town, Edmund was also wildly successful as a dance band leader and recorded some of the earliest British jazz records in 1921 playing clarinet and saxophone. His early death, in 1926, far from home, meant his story almost faded away. His music, shipped back to the US after his death in 1926, remained almost entirely unperformed. Only one piece of Edmund's work has been commercially recorded: Charlestonia which was premiered in 1925 and reconstructed in the 1980's, by the composer Vincent Plush from manuscripts held at the Centre for Black Music Research at Columbia College in Chicago. Now, nearly a hundred years later, the pianist Allyson Devenish travels to Charleston to hear about Edmund's roots and to meet some of the people trying to bring his music the recognition it deserves. She traces his musical life in London and Paris and returns some of Edmund's music to the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied for seven years and performs it with some students and alumni, including the violinist Braimah Kanneh-Mason. Edmund Thornton Jenkins' story is told in a biography by Jeffrey Green and we are grateful for his invaluable help in researching this programme. Contributors include: Kellen Gray Assistant Conductor of the Royal National Scottish Orchestra and Associate Conductor of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra who conducted the premiere of Edmund T Jenkins' piece Rhapsodic Overture, (reconstructed by Tuffus Zimbabwe) for the Spoleto Festival in 2022. John Kennedy, Resident Conductor and Director of Orchestral Activity at the Spoleto Festival. Wojciech Milewski, Music Director of the Charleston Opera Theatre and the Summerville Orchestra who has made the parts and score for Charlestonia publically available. Dr Bernard Powers, historian and Director of the Center for the Study of Slavery in Charleston. Victoria Smalls, Director of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. Braimah Kanneh-Mason, violinist and Royal Academy of Music alumnus who performs Edmund T Jenkins' Reverie Fantasie with Allyson Devenish. Tamara Tare, a student at the Royal Academy of Music who sings Edmund T Jenkins' That Place Called Italy, accompanied by Allyson Devenish. Jeremy Ng, a student at the Royal Academy of Music who performs Edmund T Jenkins' Prelude Religieux. Emily Woolf, the archivist at Wigmore Hall. Adam Taylor, the librarian at the Royal Academy of Music. Dr Stephanie Doktor, Assistant Professor, Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University. Professor Catherine Tackley, Head of the Department of Music at the University of Liverpool. Presenter: Allyson Devenish Producer: Natalie Steed A Rhubarb Rhubarb Production for BBC Radio 3