Henry Franklin Belknap Gilbert (1868–1928) was an American composer and collector of folk music who became a prominent figure in the movement to create a distinctively American classical sound. Born in Somerville, Massachusetts, he studied composition under Edward MacDowell and violin under Emil Mollenhauer at the New England Conservatory. Although he initially left music for a career in business after graduation, attending a performance of Gustave Charpentier's opera Louise in 1900 inspired him to return to composition, with a renewed focus on American folk and popular idioms.
Gilbert's compositions heavily drew from the music of African Americans, Native Americans, and Creoles. He achieved his first major success with the Comedy Overture on Negro Themes (1910), followed by the Negro Rhapsody. His most celebrated work, The Dance in Place Congo, was a programmatic piece based on Creole themes. Originally completed in 1908, it faced racial prejudice and rejection in Boston before being adapted into a highly acclaimed ballet performed by the Metropolitan Opera in 1918.
In addition to orchestral works, Gilbert composed pieces such as Americanesque, Three American Dances, and the score for the 1922 film Down to the Sea in Ships. Despite suffering from a lifelong congenital heart condition, he continued to promote his music, attending a successful performance of The Dance in Place Congo in Germany shortly before his death in 1928. Although highly regarded during his lifetime for his pioneering integration of diverse American folk traditions, his musical reputation declined posthumously.
