White Nile Suite

Available for the first time in print! Philippa Schuyler’s original version of her 1964 White Nile Suite depicts four cities on the banks of the White Nile - Omdurman (I. Legend of the Mahdi), Alexandria (II. Alexandria), Port Said (III. Port Said), and the ancient fortress of Babylon (IV. Fall of Babylon). Experience this unique work combining Western and Arabic music traditions! Child prodigy, composer, concert pianist, war correspondent, and humanitarian Philippa Schuyler (1931-1967) documented her unique life through her musical compositions, written in the midst of world tours and war zones. A child prodigy in music and academics, Schuyler composed at least fifty short works by age ten. Her first adult compositions drew from her extensive international travels with arrangements of folk music, while later works like White Nile Suite incorporate aspects of Arabic music and detailed narratives. While composing this suite, Schuyler was also touring as a concert pianist and reporting on violence and conflicts in Africa and Vietnam, until her life was cut tragically short when her helicopter flight crashed yards from shore in Vietnam. In the decades since her death, most of Schuyler’s compositions have remained in handwritten manuscript within her archived papers in Harlem. With the generous permission of the rights holder, this first edition of her White Nile Suite is now available for the first time.