Paul Robeson In Five Songs

Episode

Title

First
Broadcast

Repeated

Comments

No More Auction Block

20200330

20220228 (R3)

The life and struggle of Paul Robeson through song. Robeson's epic journey traversed multiple musical forms beginning with the Negro Spirituals. At the height of the Harlem Renaissance, in 1925, Robeson and his accompanist Lawrence Brown turned them into art music. For white audiences these performances came as a revelation. For some black writers and artists there was ambivalence, anxiety that the spirituals described an abject existence they sought to reforge. Shana Redmond, scholar and professor of black music, culture and politics at UCLA explores the ways in which Robeson's performances of No More Auction Block map his own struggles

'The spirituals are not simply a musical form for Robeson; they are his story. The son of a once enslaved man who seized his freedom, Robeson lived in a home where the songs of his people and the gospel of his father's church commingled, developing a rich, melodious demand for freedom.'

Producer: Mark Burman

The life and struggle of Paul Robeson through song. Shana Redmond on No More Auction Block

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Ol' Man River

20200331

20220301 (R3)

Susan Robeson tells a story both the personal and the political through the song that is forever identified with her grandfather, Ol' Man River. Written expressly for him in 1927 by Hammerstein and Kern for their groundbreaking musical Show Boat, Robeson would not wrap his unique voice around it until he was relocated in London the next year. It was a song he would go on to have a lasting and complex relationship with as a black superstar performing for white audiences.

`My grandfather transformed Ol' Man River from a song of submission and despair into a song of resistance. It became an anthem embodying his spirit. When Paul sang his version of Ol' Man River the message was clear: systems of oppression cannot silence or destroy me.`

Producer: Mark Burman

Susan Robeson tells how her grandfather transformed Ol' Man River into a song of defiance.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

The Canoe Song

20200401

20220302 (R3)

Paul Robeson and film should have been a perfect fit - the 20th century's first black superstar had everything. Presence, voice and fierce screen intelligence that projected from the screen. British audiences adored him, Our Paul' they called him but for Robeson cinema was a constant betrayal of his political idealism and desire to escape the prism of race. Matthew Sweet considers the confusing threads that make up the 1935 empire flag waver Sanders of the River, which still hummed to the astonishing power of Robeson's voice in the Canoe Song.

It took several Hungarian impresarios, an Edwardian songsmith, a Polish Jewish genius of the Berlin cabaret scene and Paul Robeson to make Sanders of the River. A retrograde fantasy of British imperial rule in far-flung Africa, shot largely on the banks of the River Thames. But when Paul Robeson sang the Canoe Song audiences adored him as our Paul'. Matthew Sweet revisits the contradictory ways Robeson, cinema and song intersected.

Producer: Mark Burman

Mathew Sweet unravels the complex threads of Paul Robeson's rendition of the Canoe Song.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Zog Nit Keynmol

20200402

20220303 (R3)

When Paul Robeson stood before a Moscow audience on the evening of June 14, 1949, in the Tchaikowski Hall, few there expected to hear him to perform the Yiddish Partisan song Zog Nit Keynmol (Never Say). His rendition of this fierce anthem of defiance, composed in the middle of Nazi slaughter, was thick with emotion and at the end the crowd either fiercely applauded or booed. Robeson had sung for those he knew were already murdered imprisoned or facing death as a new wave of Stalinist repression was underway against Soviet Jews. Performer Tayo Aluko explores Robeson's torment and contradictory emotions that make this performance so dramatic.

Producer: Mark Burman

Tayo Aluko explores Paul Robeson's anguished 1949 Moscow performance of Zog Nit Keynmol.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Producer: Mark Burman

Tayo Aluko explores Paul Robeson's anguished 1949 Moscow performance of Zog Nit Keynmol.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Joe Hill

20200403

20220304 (R3)

Marybeth Hamilton summons up the ghosts of both Joe Hill and Paul Robeson as she explores the ways Robeson was so completely erased from culture and memory for many Americans. If any one song in Robeson's repertoire sums up those histories of denial and silencing it is Joe Hill.

Producer: Mark Burman

Marybeth Hamilton on the two ghosts of Joe Hill and Paul Robeson and their linked fates.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Producer: Mark Burman

Marybeth Hamilton on the two ghosts of Joe Hill and Paul Robeson and their linked fates.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Episodes

Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Repeated	Comments
01	No More Auction Block	20200330	20220228 (R3)	The life and struggle of Paul Robeson through song. Robeson's epic journey traversed multiple musical forms beginning with the Negro Spirituals. At the height of the Harlem Renaissance, in 1925, Robeson and his accompanist Lawrence Brown turned them into art music. For white audiences these performances came as a revelation. For some black writers and artists there was ambivalence, anxiety that the spirituals described an abject existence they sought to reforge. Shana Redmond, scholar and professor of black music, culture and politics at UCLA explores the ways in which Robeson's performances of No More Auction Block map his own struggles 'The spirituals are not simply a musical form for Robeson; they are his story. The son of a once enslaved man who seized his freedom, Robeson lived in a home where the songs of his people and the gospel of his father's church commingled, developing a rich, melodious demand for freedom.' Producer: Mark Burman The life and struggle of Paul Robeson through song. Shana Redmond on No More Auction Block Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
02	Ol' Man River	20200331	20220301 (R3)	Susan Robeson tells a story both the personal and the political through the song that is forever identified with her grandfather, Ol' Man River. Written expressly for him in 1927 by Hammerstein and Kern for their groundbreaking musical Show Boat, Robeson would not wrap his unique voice around it until he was relocated in London the next year. It was a song he would go on to have a lasting and complex relationship with as a black superstar performing for white audiences. `My grandfather transformed Ol' Man River from a song of submission and despair into a song of resistance. It became an anthem embodying his spirit. When Paul sang his version of Ol' Man River the message was clear: systems of oppression cannot silence or destroy me.` Producer: Mark Burman Susan Robeson tells how her grandfather transformed Ol' Man River into a song of defiance. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
03	The Canoe Song	20200401	20220302 (R3)	Paul Robeson and film should have been a perfect fit - the 20th century's first black superstar had everything. Presence, voice and fierce screen intelligence that projected from the screen. British audiences adored him, Our Paul' they called him but for Robeson cinema was a constant betrayal of his political idealism and desire to escape the prism of race. Matthew Sweet considers the confusing threads that make up the 1935 empire flag waver Sanders of the River, which still hummed to the astonishing power of Robeson's voice in the Canoe Song. It took several Hungarian impresarios, an Edwardian songsmith, a Polish Jewish genius of the Berlin cabaret scene and Paul Robeson to make Sanders of the River. A retrograde fantasy of British imperial rule in far-flung Africa, shot largely on the banks of the River Thames. But when Paul Robeson sang the Canoe Song audiences adored him as our Paul'. Matthew Sweet revisits the contradictory ways Robeson, cinema and song intersected. Producer: Mark Burman Mathew Sweet unravels the complex threads of Paul Robeson's rendition of the Canoe Song. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
04	Zog Nit Keynmol	20200402	20220303 (R3)	When Paul Robeson stood before a Moscow audience on the evening of June 14, 1949, in the Tchaikowski Hall, few there expected to hear him to perform the Yiddish Partisan song Zog Nit Keynmol (Never Say). His rendition of this fierce anthem of defiance, composed in the middle of Nazi slaughter, was thick with emotion and at the end the crowd either fiercely applauded or booed. Robeson had sung for those he knew were already murdered imprisoned or facing death as a new wave of Stalinist repression was underway against Soviet Jews. Performer Tayo Aluko explores Robeson's torment and contradictory emotions that make this performance so dramatic. Producer: Mark Burman Tayo Aluko explores Paul Robeson's anguished 1949 Moscow performance of Zog Nit Keynmol. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. When Paul Robeson stood before a Moscow audience on the evening of June 14, 1949, in the Tchaikowski Hall, few there expected to hear him to perform the Yiddish Partisan song Zog Nit Keynmol (Never Say). His rendition of this fierce anthem of defiance, composed in the middle of Nazi slaughter, was thick with emotion and at the end the crowd either fiercely applauded or booed. Robeson had sung for those he knew were already murdered imprisoned or facing death as a new wave of Stalinist repression was underway against Soviet Jews. Performer Tayo Aluko explores Robeson's torment and contradictory emotions that make this performance so dramatic. Producer: Mark Burman Tayo Aluko explores Paul Robeson's anguished 1949 Moscow performance of Zog Nit Keynmol. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
05	Joe Hill	20200403	20220304 (R3)	Marybeth Hamilton summons up the ghosts of both Joe Hill and Paul Robeson as she explores the ways Robeson was so completely erased from culture and memory for many Americans. If any one song in Robeson's repertoire sums up those histories of denial and silencing it is Joe Hill. Producer: Mark Burman Marybeth Hamilton on the two ghosts of Joe Hill and Paul Robeson and their linked fates. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. Marybeth Hamilton summons up the ghosts of both Joe Hill and Paul Robeson as she explores the ways Robeson was so completely erased from culture and memory for many Americans. If any one song in Robeson's repertoire sums up those histories of denial and silencing it is Joe Hill. Producer: Mark Burman Marybeth Hamilton on the two ghosts of Joe Hill and Paul Robeson and their linked fates. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.