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029C3EBC-5FD0-4341-8EC2-CA04403CCBFD
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Update Title: 029C3EBC-5FD0-4341-8EC2-CA04403CCBFD
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Commissioned and recorded twice by tenor William Brown, Through This Vale of Tears is a kind of social commentary on the death of Dr. King. As described by the Atlanta Journal Constitution, "Mr. Baker's piece set a variety of texts in a cornucopia of styles, including scat, spiritual, and chorale. Miraculously, this diversity cohered, producing a multi-dimensional work filled with grief, humor and hope." Set includes 1 full score and string parts; individual scores may also be purchased separately (LKMP# X081022).
Instrumentation
Tenor or Soprano Solo: 2 Violin, Viola, Cello, Piano
Commission
Commissioned by William Brown.
Dedication
Program Notes
Through This Vale of Tears is a kind of social commentary on the death of Dr. King, a realistic if somewhat cynical appraisal of his death and its impact on all of us. The texts for the seven-section work were drawn from diverse sources. "Thou Dost Lay Me in the Dust of Death," "Deliver My Soul," and "My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me" are all taken from the 22nd Psalm. "Motherless Child" is a traditional Negro spiritual/sorrow song. Three of my Indianapolis friends provided the poetry for the remaining songs: "If There Be Sorrow" by the aforementioned Mari Evans: "Parades of Hell" by Solomon Edwards, a childhood friend and collaborator in other works; and "Now That He Is Safely Dead," a devastatingly powerful poem which I have set several times before, by Carl Hines. Each of the settings is designed to maximize the dramatic ability and imagination of one of the truly great tenors of our time, William Brown. 1. "Thou Dost Lay me in the Dust of Death." This movement is a recasting of the chorale of the composer's Black America: To the Memoery of Martin Luther King, Jr., a cantata for jazz ensemble, narrators, soloists, and string orchestra, written in 1968. It begins with a sound reminiscent of the voice and continuo treatment of the Baroque, but quickly makes use of later stylistic, harmonic, and melodic procedures. 2. "If There Be Sorrow." This setting of the Mari Evans poem is unmistakably modern in treatment, with characteristic leaps and dissonant melodic and harmonic intervals. 3. "My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?" This is a spiritual-like treatment of the Twenty-second Psalm, with the slurred falling thirds and other elisions characteristic of the genre. 4. "Parades to Hell." This setting of the Solomon Edwards poem is expressionist-like in character, but it also, ironically, sets the musical stage and serves as a lead-in to the following, stylistically contrasting movement. 5. "Deliver My Soul." This is a gospel setting of Psalm 22 in which the piano plays a larger role than in the other movements of the piece. It is a kind of gospel waltz, with a significant jazz-like scat section. The dissonances heard at phrase endings are compositional. 6. "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child." A modern setting of the traditional Afro-American spiritual of the same name, this is both a brief presentation of and modern musical commentary on this popular Afro-American religious folksong. 7. "Now That He Is Safely Dead." This setting of the Carl Hines text, another movement recast from the author's Black America, is at once retrospective and predictive, commenting on "a dead man's dream." it ends with a chorale-like treatment of the text. --David N. Baker
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Recording Credits
Recorded by Lawrence Conservatory of Music Ensemble, CRI CD 823. Recorded by William Brown (tenor), Lynn Chang (violin), Marylou Speaker Churchill (violin), Marcus Thompson (viola), Mark Churchill (cello), Vivian Taylor (piano), Videmus, New World Records
Review
"Mr. BakerÕs piece set a variety of texts in a cornucopia of styles, including scat, spiritual, and chorale. Miraculously, this diversity cohered, producing a multi-dimensional work filled with grief, humor and hope." --Derrick Henry, Atlanta Journal and Constitution<BR><BR> "...All of the music has a very high spiritual quality, direct and straight from the heart...Baker is an honest and thoughtful composer, one whose music maintains a high level of excitement and independence of thought..." <BR>--James Underwood, Sunday Herald-Times<BR><BR> "...Each musical setting was matched and fitted to its text as if by a master tailor..." <BR>--Gerald Brennan, The Ann Arbor News<BR><BR> "...Yes, 'Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child,' one of the work's seven songs, might seem to be little more than a plaintive folk tune. But listen to the stark dissonances that accompany it, and the vignette becomes a pungent statement of black life in 20th Century America..." <BR>--Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune
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Title Movements
1. Thou Dost Lay Me in the Dust of Death 2. If There Be Sorrow 3. My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me 4. Parades of Hell 5. Deliver My Soul 6. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child 7. Now That He Is Safely Dead
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