Monday, September 30, 2019

Hidden Gems and Hidden Figures...

“Hidden Gems…and Hidden Figures: The Cello Music of African American Composers, Women And Less Visible Artists”


Friday, October 4, 2019, 7:30pm
Recital Hall, Edwards Music Building, North Carolina Central University 

Still Waters Running Deep (1984)                                        Barbara York, b.1949
Melodie (1911)                                                              Frank Bridge (1879-1941)

Seven Variations in E flat Major on “Bei Mannern” from Mozart’s The Magic Flute (c.1795)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Comments on the music

Deep River                                                                   arr. Moses Hogan (1957-2003)
This Little Light Of Mine (1945)                                                John W. Work (1901-1967)
This Little Light Of Mine (2001)                                                James Lee III, b.1975
Troubled Water (1964)                                                               Margaret Allison Bonds (1913-1972)

About these “Hidden Figures and their Hidden Gems”…

The opening work, Still Waters Running Deep of Barbara York possesses both a pastoral and flowing character, evoking several familiar images in its title: “sheep” (human or cloven-hoofed!!) being led by "The Good Shepherd" of the 23rd Psalm, the depth of thought in human nature (Proverbs 18 & 20), but the depth of this piece lies in the beauty of its melodic line and its harmonic and rhythmic “course”, which resembles a river flowing and cutting deeply through its watershed.







“Deep River” is one of a host of spirituals arranged for voice and piano by Moses Hogan, a pianist and choral conductor who left us ‘way too soon. The two settings of “This Little Light Of Mine” couldn’t be more complimentarily contrastive in their harmonic and expressive effect. John W. Work was the second of three generations of musicians associated with Fisk University and the historic Jubilee Singers. James Lee III is a nationally recognized “STILL young” composer who studied piano and composition at The University of Michigan. He now serves as associate professor of music at Morgan State University.
“Troubled Water” is the closing movement of the Spiritual Suite for solo piano, composed by Margaret Bonds in 1947-48; she arranged it for cello and piano for the cellist Kermit Moore. Both musicians performed together quite frequently; in addition to being great friends, they also worked under the same artist management as a duo.


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