From Many, One….All of US at 250
As we approach the official 250th anniversary of the United States, there is much to ponder about.
Some, like Aaron Copland, Robert Shaw, and Leonard Bernstein, felt that artists and artistic activity had not only a role to play in our democratic society, but could be an expression of the ideals of our nation, Our purpose today is to both examine and celebrate the democratic experiment that is the United States.
The phrase “e pluribus unum” (from many, one) was the national motto from 1782 to 1956. It originally was meant to depict the formation of a new, single nation from thirteen colonies. The phrase had antecedents in Virgil, Cicero, and Augustine, whose writings variously were dealing with how the bonds of friendship unite many souls into one, and how friends can enkindle each other’s minds. Although not without some racist and ethnocentric flaws, the founding document of our country does hold some high ideals and aspirations, and those who signed it were moved “to mutually pledge to one another our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
The wonderful cultures and nationalities that lived in, worked in (sometimes in inhumane conditions and institutions) and migrated to the land and society known as America are too numerous to name or feature in one concert, but we are looking at some initial indigenous residents, colonists, enslaved populations, and other countries’ societies that later became a part of this society. “How Can I Keep from Singing?” is an arrangement of a Quaker (Society of Friends) hymn that goes back to the 1800s, which carries a strong message of justice and togtherness at the core of our founding. “Chante Waste Hoksila,” written by Linthicum-Blackhorse, is dedicated to the child victims of a mass shooting. Dr. Blackhorseis a Pipe-carrier in the traditional spirituality and medicine of the Lakȟóta of South Dakota.
Scotch and Irish settlers and immigrants, many of whom were also seeking religious freedom, another idea this country enshrined, were forging some newer styles of singing and notation by adopting some existing hymns and using them in not only worship but pure singing meetings, using newly invented shape note notation styles. “Star in the East” comes from the Southern Harmony collection. “Hold On,” arranged by 20th century black musician, composer and actor Jester Hairston, combines elements of spiritual, work song, and signal or escape song into this lively treatment.
Another society that became a part of this nation were the indigenous Hawai’ians. “Ku’u Ipo I Ka He’e Pu’e One” is a delightful love song, which celebrates themes of the natural beauty of this people’s home. Undine Smith Moore, a celebrated black American composer, has given us a brilliant arrangement of the spiritual on the bible story of Daniel.
David Conte presents charming arrangements of three folk songs, which tell somewhat dark stories, but do reflect traditions of the already pluralistic society of Mexican peoples. The set was commissioined for an observance of the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos). One song, in particular, “La Llorona,” has parallel mythologies found in Central and South America, as well as Europe. The legend of a spectre of a woman weeping for children has many versions.
“El Guayaboso” brings the percussion section right into the choir, in this Caribbean nonsense story. The composer’s grandmother would spin some tall yarns, which have been set in this playful piece.
Rosephayne Powell has captured not only the brilliance of Langston Hughes’ poetic meaning, but is almost a celebration of the Harlem Renaissance, in the incorporation of jazz style in the music embodiment of the profound text on Hughes’ poem “To Sit and Dream.” Another creator, In “The Times They Are a Changin’,” Bob Dylan gave us this anthem of the 60’s, reflecting profound societal change. It celebrates one of the hallowed principles of our country, the right of the people to shape government to meet their needs, and as in that country-founding movement itself, the American rights of free speech and protest.
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
The battle outside ragin'
Will soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'
“Can We Sing the Darkness to Light?” taps into the aspirations of freedom and justice-loving people. The text of “The Promise of Living” from the opera The Tender Land goes back to the beginning idea of unity. The music of Copland was for him his best offering of his sense of uniquely American music. Some of the sounds of this piece recall the “Fanfare for the Common Man.” The ideas of friendship and togetherness inspire, and even transcend art.
From Copland: A story about America, by Veronica Mang. “Aaron tries to write music that reminds people to find strength in one another. He tries to write music that sounds like America.” “Aaron’s music dares us to ask: Who are we when we listen? When we dream about a better future?”
“To sit and dream, to sit and read,
To sit and learn about the world
Outside our world of here and now--
Our problem world--
To dream of vast horizons of the soul
Through dreams made whole,
Unfettered, free--help me!
All you who are dreamers, too,
Help me to make
Our world anew.
I reach out my dreams to you.”