Bessie Mayle
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Bessie Mayle | |
|---|---|
 Mayle, from the 1949 yearbook of Howard University | |
| Born | Hagerstown, Maryland, U.S. |
| Died | May 17, 1963 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Occupations | Singer, poet, college professor |
Bessie Helena Mayle (died May 17, 1963) was an American soprano singer, poet, and educator. She taught at historically black colleges and universities, including Barber-Scotia College, South Carolina State College, Johnson C. Smith University and Howard University.
Mayle was born in Hagerstown, Maryland,[1] the daughter of Warner Washington Mayle.[2] Her father was a Presbyterian minister.[3][4]
Mayle attended the Margaret Barber Seminary,[5] and graduated from Spelman College in 1931;[6][7] she won a creative writing award at Spelman, for a play she wrote.[8][9] She earned a master's degree from Boston University in 1932,[7][10] with a fellowship from the Julius Rosenwald Fund.[8] Her thesis was titled "History and Interpretation of the Pre-Reformation Carol and the Negro Spiritual."[11][12]
Career
Mayle taught music at Barber-Scotia College,[7] South Carolina State College,[13] and Johnson C. Smith University[3] and, beginning in 1942, in the religion department at Howard University.[7][14] Her poem "Night" (1930) was set to music as an art song by composer Florence Price in 1945.[15][16] She wrote the words and music to other songs, including "The Door to My Heart" (1951) and "No One But You" (1951).[17]
Alice Eversman described Mayle's voice as "of lovely texture, small and pure, but arresting for its sweetness of quality."[18] She was known for her eclectic programs, which included art songs by living American composers.[19] For example, she sang work by Wintter Watts at a 1939 concert in Atlanta,[6] and works by Mark Fax at a Washington, D.C. concert in 1950,[20] and gave the world premiere performance of Howard Swanson's "Songs for Patricia" in Minneapolis in 1952.[10] She gave a concert at the National Gallery of Art in 1953.[21][22] The Washington Afro-American music critic noted her "naturally fine vocal organ of not unusual size but true."[23] Another critic at the same show applauded Mayle's choice of modern songs, and the unusual flute accompaniment.[24]
Publications
- "Night" and "Skylines" (1930, poems, The Crisis)[25]
- "Clogged Springs" (1930, one-act play, Spelman Messenger)[26]