Jubilee Program Notes

Dear Friends,

In 1918, Nathaniel Dett wrote: “We have this wonderful store of folk music—the melodies of an enslaved people ... But this store will be of no value unless we utilize it, unless we treat it in such manner that it can be presented in choral form, in lyric and operatic works, in concertos and suites and salon music—unless our musical architects take the rough timber of Negro themes and fashion from it music which will prove that we, too, have national feelings and character- istics, as have the European peoples whose forms we have zealously followed for so long.”

Nathaniel Dett sought to bring the treasure trove of folk music found in the Negro Spiritual tradition to his music as a more Euro-centric composer in the early 20th century. He brought to the forefront a perspective in his music that was original to his heritage. Throughout his career, he elevated the lives, careers, and music of black composers and performers. It is in no small part thanks to his legacy that we have a concert like this today. 

Originally composed in 1921, Dett’s Chariot Jubilee has remained underperformed throughout the 20th and 21st centuries despite the critical and popular acclaim at its premiere. In 2020, Jason Max Ferdinand edited the new performing edition you will hear today. Blending the African American Spiritual and classical forms, Dett has written a beautiful and intricately crafted piece.

The remainder of this concert illustrates and extends the African-American Spiritual tradition that Dett advanced. Works by William Dawson, Undine S. Moore, and Moses Hogan mine the riches of the spiritual tradition to give us authentic, scholarly, and brilliant arrangements. In Dominum Vobiscum, Haitian-American Sydney Guillaume combines the words of his father with the Latin “The Lord Be With You,” drawing on his family history to inform his music much as these other composers have. The concert concludes with Forever Music by Mark Hayes (the only work on the program not written by an African-American composer), which honors the Spiritual tradition by emphasizing music's hope, joy, and permanence.

This is music born out of hardship; this is music born out of America’s original sin; this is music that sustains the goodness of humanity through the tragedy in the world. And throughout it all there is joy. What a lesson we may learn.

Fondly,  George Case