Getting Acquainted with Ignatius Sancho
The story of Ignatius Sancho is quite remarkable. Born on a slave ship as it was headed to South America, Sancho became an orphan within a year. At the age of two, he was taken to Greenwich, England where he grew up as a slave to three unmarried sisters.
Despite the odds, Sancho became educated, achieved his freedom, became a property owner, and was the first known person of African descent to vote in a British parliamentary election. Although he was primarily known as a business man and a passionate advocate for the abolition of slavery, he was also a composer, writing in the popular dance idioms of the time.
This webinar presents the life and times of Ignatius Sancho as well as his Twelve Country Dances for the Year 1779. Set for the Harpsichord. These pieces constitute a fun collection of keyboard music similar in difficulty to the easier pieces of the Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook.
This collection has been produced in an interactive urtext edition by George F. Litterst, published in SuperScore Music on the iPad, complete with both harpsichord and piano performances.
Here is a link to the handout described in the presentation: Getting Acquainted with Ignatius Sancho
