Harlem Renaissance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Harlem Renaissance - Essay Example The Harlem Renaissance brought about by the changes that African-American community had endured since the slavery was abolished. Those changes grew greater as a result of the First World War. People from rural areas attracted by industrialization opportunities were coming to cities giving rise to the new mass culture. Furthermore, Harlem Renaissance was contributed by such factors as the Great Migration of black Americans to the Northern cities which were concentrating ambitious people, and World War I that had created new jobs in industry for thousands of people. During the Harlem Renaissance, a new way of playing the piano was introduced. This was called Harlem Style and helped much to blur the lines between black social elite and poor Negroes. While the classic jazz band was made up of brass instruments and was viewed as the symbol of the South, the piano was viewed as an instrument pertaining to the culture of the wealthy. Such a modification once brought to already existing genre offered well-to-do blacks access to jazz. The popularity of that genre soon spread throughout the United States and became eventually at an â€Å"all time high.† Its liveliness and innovation were significant characteristics of performers in jazz’s early years. Such outstanding musicians as Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Willie â€Å"The Lion† Smith and Jelly Roll Morton are considered to have laid the foundation for jazz music. It was the time when jazz as the blacks’ musical style gained it s popularity among whites. White dramatists, novelists and composers began to exploit the musical themes and tendencies of African-American in their pieces of art. Composers began to imply African American motifs in their works, such melodies and harmonies of black music as spirituals jazz and blues into their own concert pieces. African-Americans began to merge with white musicians into classical world of composition. Soon Roland Hayes became the first black male to enjoy wide recognition as a concert performer in both his native country and worldwide. He attended the Fisk University in Nashville with Arthur Calhoun. Later he