Topic: Art Song
Encores are a special part of the concert program, when an artist is expected to sing something light or humanizing. African-Americans uniformly are expected to perform a spiritual. If one were, instead, to offer something like Sam Cook’s "You Send Me" that would disappoint their audience by breaking protocol.
The concert spiritual repertoire is a subset limited to those songs recognized by white audiences. The corpus was set by Marion Anderson and Paul Robeson in the 1930s. Very few songs have been added since. The familiar "Kumbaya" can be used as an encore, but not "Come by Here."
John Littleton was born on a plantation in Madison parish in northeastern Louisiana [1] where the population today is more than 77% Black. [2] The African American enlisted after graduating from high school and served during World War II. He stayed in France after the war and entered the Académie Nationale de Musique of Paris for opera training in the middle-1950s. [3] The baritone mastered the roles of Boris Godunov and Faust in operas by Mussorgsky and Gounod. [4]
As a baritone Littleton faced special challenges. As a class, baritones are less likely to attract the followings necessary to generate lucrative opportunities than tenors who have the leads in most operas. In addition, he faced the unique challenges created by Robeson whose resonant baritone voice defined the sound of many spirituals for white Europeans.
Littleton worked the concert circuit and, in 1960, turned to spirituals. [5] Soon after, Mickey Baker moved to France from New York. The Louisville-born African-American sideman had played guitar on sessions for Savoy records. [6] He created Littleman’s arrangement of "Kumbaya" and directed the musicians and singers.
The encore spiritual repertoire is essentially a romantic genre. A French website devoted to Littleton said he:
"was always faithful to his origin and his roots. He never forgot the pain of his ancestor slaves, their joy when they discovered God, this God who had released the people of Israel. The black slaves sang, shouted towards those that liked them." [7]
After Littleton died in Rheims in 1998, Christian Price put together a "JLS ‘Amen’" program in Montréal based on Littleton’s most popular album. [8] It featured the deep-voiced Placide Adombi Yapo Atsé and a choir directed by Christophe Absi. Adombi was from Côte d’Ivoire. [9] Absi was white. The choir included children, one of whom had a dark-colored face.
Performers
Vocal Accompaniment: Chœur Mickey Baker
Instrumental Accompaniment: Orchestre Mickey Baker
Rhythm Accompaniment: piano, cymbal
Credits
"Kumbaya" by Mickey Baker
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: cum-bye-yah with emphasis on first syllable
Pronoun: someone
Format: four-verse song
Line Repetition Pattern: AAAB
Line Form: statement-refrain
Verses: kumabya, singing, praying
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: tune from The Seekers
Basic Structure: repetitions of the four-line melody with increasingly more voices and instruments
Solo Style: simple, unembellished
Solo-Group Dynamics (by repetition):
1. Solo joined by men with deep voices on last line
2. Softer solo with male chorus singing "kumbaya" after he finished, and joining on final line
3. Solo with male and female chorus. On the echo of "kumbaya" the men sang "kum" and the group finished "baya."
4. Solo with chorus singing broad chords of "oh," except when following the established pattern. The last line was sung by all.
Vocal-Orchestra Dynamics: nearly a capella with cymbal on the beats, and piano chords marking the beginnings of phrases. The cymbal may have been augmented by other stringed instruments in later repetitions, and especially in the final iteration.
Notes on Performance
The Littleton video showed an album cover with a dark-skinned choir wearing white robes. Their arms were raised from the elbows and they were holding hands.
JLS "Amen" used the same vocal parts from Littleton’s recording, but employed different instruments. The credits listed a drum set, keyboards, electric bass, guitar, and flute. Everyone wore black slacks and white shirts; the girls added colored scarves. Absi wore a black suit and conducted with a baton. Except for Adombi, who walked about as he sang with a hand-held microphone, everyone stood in place.
Notes on Performers
Littleton’s father was a Baptist pastor and farmer. According to the French Wikipedia, as translated by Google, "The young John starts singing along with his father in the churches. He sings in a soloist and in choirs of gospel." [10] Another French source said he "accompanied his father when he would go in the various small Baptist Churches of the area." [11]
Availability
Album: Spirituals. Editions Studio S.M. 30-377. 1971.
YouTube: uploaded by Sing To God!, 6 June 2016.
JLS "Amen." "Kumbaya." Cathédral de Nicolet, Québec, 5 October 2013. Uploaded to YouTube 2 February 2014.
End Notes
1. Wikipedia. "Tallulah, Louisiana."
2. "Tallulah, Louisiana." City-Data website.
3. Richard P. Sevier. "John L. Littleton, Jr., Madison Parish, Louisiana." Ancestry website.
4. French Wikipedia. "John Littleton."
5. Wikipedia, Littleton.
6. Wikipedia. "Mickey Baker."
7. Translation reprinted by Sevier.
8. John Littleton. Amen. Editions Studio S.M. SM 30 M-361. 1970. It did not have "Kumbaya." The album was devoted to songs by Odette Vercruysse, a contemporary Christian composer.
9. Nathalie Zemgbo-Djiezion. "Canada: voyage dans l’univers des patriotes pour la préparation de la victoire de Laurent Gbagbo." Abidjan.net, 18 November 2010.
10. Wikipedia, Littleton.
11. Translation reprinted by Sevier.
Showing posts with label ~ Art Song. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ~ Art Song. Show all posts
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Kyrkjebø, Aznavour, Domingo - Kum Bah Yah
Topic: Art Song
Antonín Dvorák may have been responsible for converting spirituals into motifs for classical composers, but Enrico Caruso was the one who created the image of the classical artist as man of the people able to sing both arias and popular songs. He had a voice that could be captured by early reproduction technology and was willing to make the necessary effort to learn how to make decent recordings. [1] Two of his most popular releases were "Santa Lucia" and "’O Sole Mio." [2]
He was unusual in his ability to sing both. Art song and folk song are different genres, and, as different forms, they have different internal rules for composition and make different demands on singers. While individuals can be trained to sing opera, their ability to sing folk or popular music often depends of they’re having been exposed to it when they were very young. Caruso grew up in working class Naples where he sometimes performed in cafés and resorts. [3] "’O Sole Mio" was written by a local café singer. [4]
The usual problem when individuals with highly trained voices sing folk material is they oversing it with their melliferous tones and precise enunciations. That was the less the problem with a 1994 Vienna concert that featured three soloists from different backgrounds than the fact the varying qualities of their voices threatened to overwhelm one another.
Each was accomplished in his or her field: Sissel Kyrkjebø was Norwegian popular singer, Charles Aznavour came from French clubs, and Plácido Domingo from opera. However, their voices were very different. Domingo’s was powerful because he had to project in large theaters, while Aznavour’s was softer for the more intimate milieus he first played. They could not be brought together without a great deal of expensive rehearsal by a conductor willing to balance them.
Instead, it sounded like they or the managers negotiating their contracts had agreed each would sing a verse in his or her own style, and only come together one time on the final repetition. When they repeated the last line of each verse, instead of all three singing, only two could be heard on the recording.
The use of duets rather than trios reflected another problem with expecting three soloists to sing together: they all had voices that traditionally sang melody. She was a soprano, and the men were tenors. The operatic repertoire had a number of arias written for a soprano and tenor, but not many for two tenors. [5] When more than two were brought together, the other parts tended to have lower registers like altos for women or baritones and bassos for men. There were no clear precedents in any popular or classical genre for how these three parts could be joined.
Performers
Instrumental Accompaniment: Vienna State Opera orchestra conducted by Vjekoslav Šutej
Rhythm Accompaniment: plucked strings
Credits
Traditional West Indies
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation:
Norwegian: coom-bye-ya with accent on second syllable. She did not sing the final d’s in Lord.
Spanish: kum-ba-ya with accent on last syllable. He emphasized the final d’s in Lord.
French: kum-bye-ya with emphasis on second syllable. He did not sing the final g’s in laughing.
Pronoun: someone
Format: four-verse song
Line Repetition Pattern: AAABB
Line Format: statement-refrain
Verses: kumbaya, crying, laughing, singing
Theme: the song was used in a Christmas concert and on a Christmas collection.
Notes on Music
Tempo: slow
Vocal Parts: two tenors and a soprano (STT)
Basic Structure: each part was heard alone, then they were combined. Thus, she went high on the last line, and Domingo were low in ways that only made aesthetic sense when they were brought together.
Solo-Solo Dynamics: each sang the complete verse with minimal accompaniment, then repeated the last line with another singer. On Kyrkjebø’s first iteration Aznavour sang the last line with her. On Domingo’s second verse, Aznavour joined on the closing line. Aznavour sang the third solo while Kyrkjebø joined him on the final line.
Style:
Solo: each was free to embellish words of his or her choice. "By" was the syllable more often ornamented, and Lord the one that was likely to be sung on several tones.
Group: chordal harmony
Vocal-Orchestral Dynamics: a harp with an occasion piano embellishment were used with Kyrkjebø. The plucked strings began with Domingo; sometimes a choral group or a flute could be heard. Only the plucked strings played during Aznavour. Full strings were deployed on the final repetition.
Notes on Performance
The video of the performance no longer is available on YouTube. My recollection was that it was very formal with the two mean wearing white ties and black tuxedos. The three stood next to each other with a music stand in front of each, and each looked straight ahead. Everyone seemed very careful when they were singing.
Notes on Performers
All three had childhood singing experiences that would have made them comfortable singing a wide range of material: Kyrkjebø was in a children’s choir, [6] Domingo’s parents ran a small troupe that staged musical dramas, [7] and Aznavour’s parents operated a restaurant where he was discovered by Édith Piaf. [8] In addition, two were children of immigrants who had to accommodate themselves in new cultures: Aznavour’s family were Armenians who moved to Paris, [9] Domingo’s family migrated from Madrid to México when he was eight-years-old. [10]
Availability
Amazon MP3: Various artists. I’ll Be Home For Christmas. Sony Classical. 1 November 1998. You cannot buy just the one track; you have to buy the whole album.
YouTube: Vienna Noël 94 concert, Vienna State Opera, 22 December 1994. Uploaded 26 November 2012. It since has been removed.
End Notes
1. Neil Kurtzman. "The Recordings of Enrico Caruso 1902 – 1904." His Medicine and Opera blog, 14 January 2009.
2. Wikipedia. "Enrico Caruso."
3. Wikipedia, Caruso.
4. Serena. "‘O Sole Mio." Her Transparent Language blog, 18 June 2009. The melody for "’O Sole Mio" was by Eduardo di Capua, a professional posteggiatore. A journalist, Giovanni Capurro, wrote the lyrics.
5. The Opera-Arias online database found only twelve in the repertoire for a listing of "Opera Duets for Two Tenors." No doubt there are more, but, even if that database only included the most popular, twelve was still a small number.
6. Wikipedia. "Sissel Kyrkjebø."
7. Wikipedia. "Plácido Domingo." They had a zarzuela troupe.
8. Wikipedia. "Charles Aznavour." He worked with Piaf for years.
9. Wikipedia, Aznavour. His father moved from Georgia, his mother from Turkey.
10. Wikipedia, Domingo.
Antonín Dvorák may have been responsible for converting spirituals into motifs for classical composers, but Enrico Caruso was the one who created the image of the classical artist as man of the people able to sing both arias and popular songs. He had a voice that could be captured by early reproduction technology and was willing to make the necessary effort to learn how to make decent recordings. [1] Two of his most popular releases were "Santa Lucia" and "’O Sole Mio." [2]
He was unusual in his ability to sing both. Art song and folk song are different genres, and, as different forms, they have different internal rules for composition and make different demands on singers. While individuals can be trained to sing opera, their ability to sing folk or popular music often depends of they’re having been exposed to it when they were very young. Caruso grew up in working class Naples where he sometimes performed in cafés and resorts. [3] "’O Sole Mio" was written by a local café singer. [4]
The usual problem when individuals with highly trained voices sing folk material is they oversing it with their melliferous tones and precise enunciations. That was the less the problem with a 1994 Vienna concert that featured three soloists from different backgrounds than the fact the varying qualities of their voices threatened to overwhelm one another.
Each was accomplished in his or her field: Sissel Kyrkjebø was Norwegian popular singer, Charles Aznavour came from French clubs, and Plácido Domingo from opera. However, their voices were very different. Domingo’s was powerful because he had to project in large theaters, while Aznavour’s was softer for the more intimate milieus he first played. They could not be brought together without a great deal of expensive rehearsal by a conductor willing to balance them.
Instead, it sounded like they or the managers negotiating their contracts had agreed each would sing a verse in his or her own style, and only come together one time on the final repetition. When they repeated the last line of each verse, instead of all three singing, only two could be heard on the recording.
The use of duets rather than trios reflected another problem with expecting three soloists to sing together: they all had voices that traditionally sang melody. She was a soprano, and the men were tenors. The operatic repertoire had a number of arias written for a soprano and tenor, but not many for two tenors. [5] When more than two were brought together, the other parts tended to have lower registers like altos for women or baritones and bassos for men. There were no clear precedents in any popular or classical genre for how these three parts could be joined.
Performers
Instrumental Accompaniment: Vienna State Opera orchestra conducted by Vjekoslav Šutej
Rhythm Accompaniment: plucked strings
Credits
Traditional West Indies
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation:
Norwegian: coom-bye-ya with accent on second syllable. She did not sing the final d’s in Lord.
Spanish: kum-ba-ya with accent on last syllable. He emphasized the final d’s in Lord.
French: kum-bye-ya with emphasis on second syllable. He did not sing the final g’s in laughing.
Pronoun: someone
Format: four-verse song
Line Repetition Pattern: AAABB
Line Format: statement-refrain
Verses: kumbaya, crying, laughing, singing
Theme: the song was used in a Christmas concert and on a Christmas collection.
Notes on Music
Tempo: slow
Vocal Parts: two tenors and a soprano (STT)
Basic Structure: each part was heard alone, then they were combined. Thus, she went high on the last line, and Domingo were low in ways that only made aesthetic sense when they were brought together.
Solo-Solo Dynamics: each sang the complete verse with minimal accompaniment, then repeated the last line with another singer. On Kyrkjebø’s first iteration Aznavour sang the last line with her. On Domingo’s second verse, Aznavour joined on the closing line. Aznavour sang the third solo while Kyrkjebø joined him on the final line.
Style:
Solo: each was free to embellish words of his or her choice. "By" was the syllable more often ornamented, and Lord the one that was likely to be sung on several tones.
Group: chordal harmony
Vocal-Orchestral Dynamics: a harp with an occasion piano embellishment were used with Kyrkjebø. The plucked strings began with Domingo; sometimes a choral group or a flute could be heard. Only the plucked strings played during Aznavour. Full strings were deployed on the final repetition.
Notes on Performance
The video of the performance no longer is available on YouTube. My recollection was that it was very formal with the two mean wearing white ties and black tuxedos. The three stood next to each other with a music stand in front of each, and each looked straight ahead. Everyone seemed very careful when they were singing.
Notes on Performers
All three had childhood singing experiences that would have made them comfortable singing a wide range of material: Kyrkjebø was in a children’s choir, [6] Domingo’s parents ran a small troupe that staged musical dramas, [7] and Aznavour’s parents operated a restaurant where he was discovered by Édith Piaf. [8] In addition, two were children of immigrants who had to accommodate themselves in new cultures: Aznavour’s family were Armenians who moved to Paris, [9] Domingo’s family migrated from Madrid to México when he was eight-years-old. [10]
Availability
Amazon MP3: Various artists. I’ll Be Home For Christmas. Sony Classical. 1 November 1998. You cannot buy just the one track; you have to buy the whole album.
YouTube: Vienna Noël 94 concert, Vienna State Opera, 22 December 1994. Uploaded 26 November 2012. It since has been removed.
End Notes
1. Neil Kurtzman. "The Recordings of Enrico Caruso 1902 – 1904." His Medicine and Opera blog, 14 January 2009.
2. Wikipedia. "Enrico Caruso."
3. Wikipedia, Caruso.
4. Serena. "‘O Sole Mio." Her Transparent Language blog, 18 June 2009. The melody for "’O Sole Mio" was by Eduardo di Capua, a professional posteggiatore. A journalist, Giovanni Capurro, wrote the lyrics.
5. The Opera-Arias online database found only twelve in the repertoire for a listing of "Opera Duets for Two Tenors." No doubt there are more, but, even if that database only included the most popular, twelve was still a small number.
6. Wikipedia. "Sissel Kyrkjebø."
7. Wikipedia. "Plácido Domingo." They had a zarzuela troupe.
8. Wikipedia. "Charles Aznavour." He worked with Piaf for years.
9. Wikipedia, Aznavour. His father moved from Georgia, his mother from Turkey.
10. Wikipedia, Domingo.
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Stephen M. Lee - Come by Here
Topic: Art Song
Harry Burleigh, mentioned in the last post, was more responsible than anyone else for introducing African-American spirituals into classical music. He began singing them as art songs in New York in the 1890s, [1] and published a setting for "Deep River" in 1917. [2] The Library of Congress noted:
"As his spiritual arrangements become increasingly popular with concert soloists, a tradition of concluding concerts with a set of spirituals was established." [3]
He was not shunning the original forms as reminders of slavery as so many then were. Indeed, he learned the songs from his grandfather who had purchased his freedom in Maryland in 1832. [4] Instead, he was trying to present an alternative to the stereotypes then rampant in vaudeville that ridiculed Blacks while coopting some of their musical forms. [5]
Stephen Lee created a program devoted to spirituals that began with a series of songs interspersed with readings. After a brief intermission the narrator provided a brief history of the genre, then the choir sang a series of more modern spirituals. The work grew out of a commission by the American Music Therapy Association in 2005. [6]
Performers
Spelman College Glee Club, Morehouse College Glee Club, Clark Atlanta University Philharmonic Society
Instrumental accompaniment: none
Rhythm accompaniment: African-style drum, men’s voices
Credits
© 2013 Stephen M Lee
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: accent on second syllable of kumbaya
Pronoun: somebody
Line repetition pattern: AAAB
Verses:
Come by here (repeated 4 times)
Somebody needs you
Kumbaya
Come by here
Notes on Music
Basic Structure: repetitions of the four-line melody with variations in roles of men’s chorus, and of male and female choruses. Men sang rhythm and women sang melody. The repetitions fell into two groups.
Group 1 repeated one verse by adding rhythms
Verse 1. Male group sang rhythmic "come by–pause–here–pause–my Lord–come by–here–Oh Lordy. The first and third lines were sung in unison; the second was in chordal harmony with the last phrase sung "Oh Lord of mercy" by men with higher voices.
Verse 2. The group singing rhythm was joined by a single African-style drum.
Verse 3. The vocal rhythm and drum were joined by men singing "ooh."
Group 2 once the melody was added the verses changed
Verse 4-5. The vocal rhythm and drum began. Then, the women joined them singing the melody.
Verse 6. The men began the rhythm on a higher note. Then men and women sang the kumbaya verse together in harmony.
Verse 7. Men sang rhythm, and men and women sang the melody in harmony. On the last line, each word was sustained.
Notes on Performance
According to the script released online, the program began with a soloist singing "Over My Head." Then the chorus entered singing "Come by Here."
The video only showed the cover of the CD. It provided no information on when or where it was recorded.
Notes on Performers
Lee was raised in Washington, D. C. He earned music degrees from Loyola University New Orleans and Morehouse College. He was living in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck, and relocated to Douglasville, Georgia. [7]
Availability
CD: Stand by Me. Portland: Oregon Catholic Press. 25 May 2013.
YouTube: uploaded by The Orchard Enterprises, 20 July 2014.
Narrator Script: Stand by Me. Portland: Oregon Catholic Press. 25 May 2013.
End Notes
1. Wikipedia. "Harry Burleigh."
2. "H. T. Burleigh (1866-1949)." Library of Congress website.
3. Library of Congress.
4. Wikipedia.
5. Jean E. Snyder. Harry T. Burleigh. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2016. Summary of chapter 16 published on Project Muse website.
6. "Stephen Lee." Oregon Catholic Press website.
7. Oregon Catholic Press.
Harry Burleigh, mentioned in the last post, was more responsible than anyone else for introducing African-American spirituals into classical music. He began singing them as art songs in New York in the 1890s, [1] and published a setting for "Deep River" in 1917. [2] The Library of Congress noted:
"As his spiritual arrangements become increasingly popular with concert soloists, a tradition of concluding concerts with a set of spirituals was established." [3]
He was not shunning the original forms as reminders of slavery as so many then were. Indeed, he learned the songs from his grandfather who had purchased his freedom in Maryland in 1832. [4] Instead, he was trying to present an alternative to the stereotypes then rampant in vaudeville that ridiculed Blacks while coopting some of their musical forms. [5]
Stephen Lee created a program devoted to spirituals that began with a series of songs interspersed with readings. After a brief intermission the narrator provided a brief history of the genre, then the choir sang a series of more modern spirituals. The work grew out of a commission by the American Music Therapy Association in 2005. [6]
Performers
Spelman College Glee Club, Morehouse College Glee Club, Clark Atlanta University Philharmonic Society
Instrumental accompaniment: none
Rhythm accompaniment: African-style drum, men’s voices
Credits
© 2013 Stephen M Lee
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: accent on second syllable of kumbaya
Pronoun: somebody
Line repetition pattern: AAAB
Verses:
Come by here (repeated 4 times)
Somebody needs you
Kumbaya
Come by here
Notes on Music
Basic Structure: repetitions of the four-line melody with variations in roles of men’s chorus, and of male and female choruses. Men sang rhythm and women sang melody. The repetitions fell into two groups.
Group 1 repeated one verse by adding rhythms
Verse 1. Male group sang rhythmic "come by–pause–here–pause–my Lord–come by–here–Oh Lordy. The first and third lines were sung in unison; the second was in chordal harmony with the last phrase sung "Oh Lord of mercy" by men with higher voices.
Verse 2. The group singing rhythm was joined by a single African-style drum.
Verse 3. The vocal rhythm and drum were joined by men singing "ooh."
Group 2 once the melody was added the verses changed
Verse 4-5. The vocal rhythm and drum began. Then, the women joined them singing the melody.
Verse 6. The men began the rhythm on a higher note. Then men and women sang the kumbaya verse together in harmony.
Verse 7. Men sang rhythm, and men and women sang the melody in harmony. On the last line, each word was sustained.
Notes on Performance
According to the script released online, the program began with a soloist singing "Over My Head." Then the chorus entered singing "Come by Here."
The video only showed the cover of the CD. It provided no information on when or where it was recorded.
Notes on Performers
Lee was raised in Washington, D. C. He earned music degrees from Loyola University New Orleans and Morehouse College. He was living in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck, and relocated to Douglasville, Georgia. [7]
Availability
CD: Stand by Me. Portland: Oregon Catholic Press. 25 May 2013.
YouTube: uploaded by The Orchard Enterprises, 20 July 2014.
Narrator Script: Stand by Me. Portland: Oregon Catholic Press. 25 May 2013.
End Notes
1. Wikipedia. "Harry Burleigh."
2. "H. T. Burleigh (1866-1949)." Library of Congress website.
3. Library of Congress.
4. Wikipedia.
5. Jean E. Snyder. Harry T. Burleigh. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2016. Summary of chapter 16 published on Project Muse website.
6. "Stephen Lee." Oregon Catholic Press website.
7. Oregon Catholic Press.
Monday, August 14, 2017
Cincinnati Pops Orchestra - Kumbaya
Topic: Art Song
The realization that distinct cultural groups who shared a common market town had different music traditions began dawning in the middle-1700s in England. Prior to this there was a general recognition the arts of the court differed from those of the people, the populus.
The career of Franz Josef Haydn reflected the emergence of commercial non-court traditions. He managed the music for the court of Nikolaus Esterházy from 1761 until his death in 1790. His heir reduced the money he spent on art and Haydn needed to find a new audience. [1] He began incorporating folk and folklike elements into his orchestral music. He introduced these innovations when he visited the center of the Hanoverian court in London between 1792 and 1795. [2]
Haydn’s concerts in London for the rising middle class coincided with the emergence of Napoléon. After Bonaparte destroyed the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and emerging Prussian empires fought to fill the vacuum. Intellectuals from principalities that were being absorbed resisted by glorifying their groups’ traditions. Some composers began creating orchestrations of folk songs, and others followed Haydn by incorporating folk motifs into their more formal compositions.
Bohemian Antonín Dvorák produced Three Slavonic Rhapsodies in 1878, and a Polanaise in 1879. While he was in the United States, he heard a Black baritone, Henry Thacker Burleigh, sing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." The flute theme in the adagio first movement of his ninth symphony of 1893, From the New World, quoted it. [3]
American composers like Virgil Thompson [4] and Aaron Copland [5] started using folk melodies in their works in the middle-1930s. However, unlike Dvorák who made brief allusions in his New World symphony, they essentially created orchestrations of folk songs within the framework of their film scores and ballets. This literal use has characterized the way later classical composers treated traditional music: they tended to make tone poems that told stories like Jean Sibelius’s "Finlandia" of 1900.
The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recorded "Kumbaya" in 2015. It must have been included in the program of Stephen Foster music to broaden the representation of American music. Because spirituals were created before the Civil War, the music first had to evoke that period. Ever since Ken Burns’ 1990 documentary on the war [6] that has been a single fiddle and muffled drum.’
The orchestra needed to convey another piece of information: spirituals were the creation of African slaves. Therefore, the work needed African elements, which meant drums, although they were the one instrument generally forbidden on plantations. The symphony employed a djembé. [7]
Performers
Soloists: Timothy Lees, Kathryn Woolley, Gabriel Pegis, Scott Mozlin, all violinists
Instrumental Accompaniment: Cincinnati Pops Orchestra conducted by John Morris Russell
Rhythm Accompaniment: Richard Jensen, djembé
Credit
Traditional
Arr. Timothy Berens
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Basic Structure: repetitions of the four-line melody with increasingly more instruments.
1. Single violin with plucked strings sounding like a muffled drum
1 End. Djembé begin repetitions after end of repetition
2. Single violin with djembé and plucked strings
2 End. Strings pulse in time between repetitions
3. Single violin with djembé and strings playing rhythmic figures
4. One violin and second playing a counterpart; djembé and strings continue
4 End. Strings repeat the last line three times, the second time slower and softer; the third time slower and by-lower pitched instruments
5. More violins
6. Several violins begin on a higher note and play faster
6 End. Repetitions of final melodic line slower and with fully chords. Then, djembé solo
Notes on Performers
The arranger, Timothy Berens, went to school in suburban Dayton [8] and graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s Conservatory of Music in 1983. [9] He began with the symphony as a guitar player, and became their principal arranger in the late 1990s. [10]
Richard Jensen played djembé. He grew up in Seattle where he studied with the local symphony’s percussionist. He began working for the Cincinnati Pops in 1972, and later graduated from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. [11]
As would be obvious from their names, both men were white.
Availability
CD: American Originals. Recorded January 2015; released 11 September 2015. [12]
YouTube: uploaded by NAXOS of America, 12 September 2015.
End Notes
1. Wikipedia. "Joseph Haydn."
2. Patricia Averill. Camp Songs, Folk Songs. 46. The London symphonies were numbered 93-104.
3. Harry Thacker Burleigh. Quoted by "African American Influences." Dvorak American Heritage Association website.
4. Virgil Thompson. The Plow That Broke the Plains. Score, 1936.
5. Aaron Copeland. Billy the Kid, 1938; Rodeo, 1942, and Appalachian Spring, 1944.
6. Ken Burns. The Civil War. PBS miniseries, 23-27 September 1990.
7. A djembé was a goblet drum popularized by the Guinea dance troupe, Les Ballets Africains. (Wikipedia. "Djembe.")
8. "Bio." Tim Berens website.
9. "About Tim Berens." Facebook.
10. Berens website.
11. "Richard Jensen." Northern Kentucky University website.
12. "American Originals Album." Cincinnati Pops website.
The realization that distinct cultural groups who shared a common market town had different music traditions began dawning in the middle-1700s in England. Prior to this there was a general recognition the arts of the court differed from those of the people, the populus.
The career of Franz Josef Haydn reflected the emergence of commercial non-court traditions. He managed the music for the court of Nikolaus Esterházy from 1761 until his death in 1790. His heir reduced the money he spent on art and Haydn needed to find a new audience. [1] He began incorporating folk and folklike elements into his orchestral music. He introduced these innovations when he visited the center of the Hanoverian court in London between 1792 and 1795. [2]
Haydn’s concerts in London for the rising middle class coincided with the emergence of Napoléon. After Bonaparte destroyed the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and emerging Prussian empires fought to fill the vacuum. Intellectuals from principalities that were being absorbed resisted by glorifying their groups’ traditions. Some composers began creating orchestrations of folk songs, and others followed Haydn by incorporating folk motifs into their more formal compositions.
Bohemian Antonín Dvorák produced Three Slavonic Rhapsodies in 1878, and a Polanaise in 1879. While he was in the United States, he heard a Black baritone, Henry Thacker Burleigh, sing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." The flute theme in the adagio first movement of his ninth symphony of 1893, From the New World, quoted it. [3]
American composers like Virgil Thompson [4] and Aaron Copland [5] started using folk melodies in their works in the middle-1930s. However, unlike Dvorák who made brief allusions in his New World symphony, they essentially created orchestrations of folk songs within the framework of their film scores and ballets. This literal use has characterized the way later classical composers treated traditional music: they tended to make tone poems that told stories like Jean Sibelius’s "Finlandia" of 1900.
The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recorded "Kumbaya" in 2015. It must have been included in the program of Stephen Foster music to broaden the representation of American music. Because spirituals were created before the Civil War, the music first had to evoke that period. Ever since Ken Burns’ 1990 documentary on the war [6] that has been a single fiddle and muffled drum.’
The orchestra needed to convey another piece of information: spirituals were the creation of African slaves. Therefore, the work needed African elements, which meant drums, although they were the one instrument generally forbidden on plantations. The symphony employed a djembé. [7]
Performers
Soloists: Timothy Lees, Kathryn Woolley, Gabriel Pegis, Scott Mozlin, all violinists
Instrumental Accompaniment: Cincinnati Pops Orchestra conducted by John Morris Russell
Rhythm Accompaniment: Richard Jensen, djembé
Credit
Traditional
Arr. Timothy Berens
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Basic Structure: repetitions of the four-line melody with increasingly more instruments.
1. Single violin with plucked strings sounding like a muffled drum
1 End. Djembé begin repetitions after end of repetition
2. Single violin with djembé and plucked strings
2 End. Strings pulse in time between repetitions
3. Single violin with djembé and strings playing rhythmic figures
4. One violin and second playing a counterpart; djembé and strings continue
4 End. Strings repeat the last line three times, the second time slower and softer; the third time slower and by-lower pitched instruments
5. More violins
6. Several violins begin on a higher note and play faster
6 End. Repetitions of final melodic line slower and with fully chords. Then, djembé solo
Notes on Performers
The arranger, Timothy Berens, went to school in suburban Dayton [8] and graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s Conservatory of Music in 1983. [9] He began with the symphony as a guitar player, and became their principal arranger in the late 1990s. [10]
Richard Jensen played djembé. He grew up in Seattle where he studied with the local symphony’s percussionist. He began working for the Cincinnati Pops in 1972, and later graduated from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. [11]
As would be obvious from their names, both men were white.
Availability
CD: American Originals. Recorded January 2015; released 11 September 2015. [12]
YouTube: uploaded by NAXOS of America, 12 September 2015.
End Notes
1. Wikipedia. "Joseph Haydn."
2. Patricia Averill. Camp Songs, Folk Songs. 46. The London symphonies were numbered 93-104.
3. Harry Thacker Burleigh. Quoted by "African American Influences." Dvorak American Heritage Association website.
4. Virgil Thompson. The Plow That Broke the Plains. Score, 1936.
5. Aaron Copeland. Billy the Kid, 1938; Rodeo, 1942, and Appalachian Spring, 1944.
6. Ken Burns. The Civil War. PBS miniseries, 23-27 September 1990.
7. A djembé was a goblet drum popularized by the Guinea dance troupe, Les Ballets Africains. (Wikipedia. "Djembe.")
8. "Bio." Tim Berens website.
9. "About Tim Berens." Facebook.
10. Berens website.
11. "Richard Jensen." Northern Kentucky University website.
12. "American Originals Album." Cincinnati Pops website.
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