Craig McLeish writes of The Negro Speaks of Rivers ; Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was the first black American to earn his living from writing. He was an innovator of jazz poetry, becoming part of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and 1930s. He wrote plays, short stories, novels, and his poetry was widely read. He was also a journalist, columnist and lecturer. The Negro Speaks of Rivers was perhaps his earliest published work, written when only 17 and while travelling by train to Mexico to visit his father. As the train crossed the Mississippi he suddenly began thinking about how rivers had impacted on Negro history, particularly in the fight against slavery. The four rivers mentioned in the poem lent themselves to using musical influences from those particular regions. However, I have tried to keep these links fairly tenuous to avoid overt pastiche. A few years ago I was fortunate enough to work with Congolese musicians. These sessions led to the intricate rhythms in The Congo . The Mississippi mentions New Orleans, so a jazz fugue seemed the most appropriate compositional device to weave into the texture. The spirit of The Nile was gauged from many hours listening avidly to Egyptian music. Craig McLeish began his musical life as a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral. As a bass guitarist, conductor, musical arranger and composer, he has worked with a wide variety of groups in several genres, and scored a hit with the cult pop band ‘Fat & Frantic’. He is musical director of Young Voices UK, and conducts several youth and community choirs in and around Milton Keynes.
International Shipping Suspended
With regret we have decided to suspend all international shipping options indefinitely, due to a significant increase in failed deliveries related to customs procedures and lost parcels. We are here to provide a reliable and prompt service to our customers and unfortunately the international solutions available to us are not up to our standards. We will review this decision in the future.
Item prices quoted on our website do not include delivery. All delivery charges are calculated by order value.
Deliveries to the United Kingdom
- £3.00 for orders under £25
- FREE for orders over £25
All deliveries within the UK are sent by Royal Mail First Class Post or 24-Hour Parcelforce dependent on weight. Please see our notes on Delivery Times below for more information.
Deliveries to Europe (SUSPENDED)
Your delivery charge will be calculated at the checkout. All deliveries to the EU will be sent via a tracked service where available.
If you need to place an order with a net value of more than £500 please call +44 (0)1304 872 812 or email us with your requirements.
Deliveries to International (SUSPENDED)
Your delivery charge will be calculated at the checkout. All international deliveries will be sent via a tracked service where available.
If you need to place an order with a value of more than £200 please call +44 (0)1304 872 812 or email us with your requirements.
Delivery Times
We aim to dispatch every order within 24 hours excluding weekends.
However, we have learned from experience not to make promises regarding delivery. We aim simply to provide you with a reliable service at a reasonable cost. To keep our prices competitive we do not keep huge stocks of any particular item. No matter how good our stock control, there will occasionally be times when a particular item is not immediately available.
Sometimes this will be due to overwhelming demand, and sometimes it will be due to circumstances beyond our control, such as the item having gone to reprint or out of print. You should be aware that your payment is taken automatically online at the time you place your order. In the circumstances outlined above, we will do our best to contact you and inform you of any anticipated delays. You may cancel your order at any time if you are not happy to wait.
Although we make every effort to ship your order according to these guidelines, we will not be held responsible for any loss or damage caused by delayed delivery.
Stock information:
Regularly updated stock information is now available to view online at ScoreStore. This information can, on occasion, be incorrect due to delays of up to 12 hours in updating. Our system will also allow you to order more items than we have in stock at any one time. If you require urgent delivery of a large order, please contact us to confirm current stock levels. Our Freephone number is 0800 072 0354 and we are in the office 9-5, Monday to Friday.
If you wish to cancel your order prior to dispatch, please email us at sales@scorestore.co.uk. We will terminate the transaction and refund any payments already made relating to your order. Once an order has been dispatched, we will accept returns where they meet the following conditions:
In the event that your item is faulty you may return it to us within twenty-one days and we will refund the cost of the item and pay the cost of returning the item to us.
If our error has led to an item has been mistakenly supplied to you and it is unopened and in as-new condition, you may return it to us within twenty-one days and we will refund the cost of the item and pay the cost of returning the item to us.
If you have decided that you do not wish to keep an item that has been correctly supplied, you may return it to us unopened in as-new condition within fourteen days. In this case we will refund the cost of the item and you will be responsible for the cost of returning the item to us. You may not return items that we have ordered specially for you unless they are faulty or supplied in error.
If you wish to return an item to us, please email sales@scorestore.co.uk for instructions. We will not accept unsolicited returns arriving at our warehouse.
