Chineke! orchestra gives belated premiere to forgotten Black composer Edmund Thornton Jenkins

At a Proms concert in London's Royal Albert Hall, the Chineke! orchestra, known for its mission to unearth music by overlooked Black composers, gave the belated first public performance of Ballet by Edmund Thornton Jenkins. The three-movement work was written in 1918 while Jenkins studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Raised in Charleston, South Carolina, Jenkins went on to build a career as a composer and band leader in Paris, where he died aged just 32. His incomplete manuscript parts were reconstructed by his great-nephew, Tuffus Zimbabwe.

Conducted by Jonathon Heyward, the performance came across persuasively. A substantial opening movement moved between ominous and light-footed moods, followed by a second movement featuring a bubbling flute duet and an ornate viola solo that showcased Jenkins' skill at interweaving melody and countermelody. The finale's waltz was described as comparatively slight next to the trumpet fanfare introducing it, though the work closed on an exuberant, uptempo note.

Angel Blue takes the stage

The Jenkins ballet was the evening's sole rediscovery — a song by Margaret Bonds had reportedly been dropped from the programme without explanation. The rest of the first half showcased US soprano Angel Blue. In Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915, the text by poet James Agee was not always audible throughout the hall, but Blue's shining tone and the childlike innocence of her performance conveyed the music's nostalgic atmosphere.

After a costume change, Blue returned with a microphone for four Great American Songbook standards, leaning heavily on charm, though not every song received the vocal polish it deserved.

The second half brought the full orchestra, including a notably strong and well-blended brass section, for Dvořák's Symphony No 8. Heyward's reading was full of momentum, with brisk tempos driving the finale to a breathless close.