In honor of CUUC’s dialogue centered on The 1619 Project, this morning’s musical selections celebrate the contributions of musicians of African descent. The Gathering Music features recorded performances by iconic Black musicians in Spirituals. Some of these seem melodies are heard in solo piano versions in the Centering Music and the 2nd Musical Interlude. Elsewhere, the repertoire focuses on compositions by female composers of African descent, including two recent visitors to CUUC, jazz great Valerie Capers, and the Cuban-American composer Tania León. Read on for programming details.
Gathering Music: Musical Icons of the Civil Rights Movement
Sweet Honey in the Rock: “Wade in the Water”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NCHAwSru3c
Paul Robeson: “Deep River” (2’17”)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l_6nSldtnI
Dorothy Maynor: “Rise Up Shepherd and Foller” (2’58”)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou5a3Ro7zCs
Marian Anderson: “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” (1’58”)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9AsA0cY8qg
Centering Music: Adam Kent, piano
Wade in the Water
Margaret Bonds
Opening Music:
Hoosier Rag
Julia Niebergall
Musical Meditation:
From Cinnamon Grove
II. Adagio
R. Nathaniel Dett
Musical Interlude I:
From Portraits in Jazz
“A Taste for Bass”
“Billie’s Song”
Valerie Capers
Musical Interlude II:
Deep River
Traditional Spiritual, arr. by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Music for Parting:
Tumbao
Tania León