MASTERWORKS CHORALE
Caretoons
Director: Dr. Liz Stanley
Accompanist: Mr. Jim Martinez
Students
Andre Ashby, Haley Borjas, Justin Canas, Althea D’Sousa, Amanda Downing, Alexander Hall, Tara Harness, Leon Huang, Richard Janus, Raegan Longacre, Hannah Milam, Emilie Pitcock, Trey Quinn, Luca Ruscica, Jaden Santini, Hannah Springer, Landon Stewart, Noelle Stewart, Arsen Sultanyan, Luke Ho Man Tse, Monica Wilberger, Timothy Wilson, Krystyl Wooten.
Songs
Sam Was a Man
Vincent Persichetti, words by E.E. Cummings
Dominic Has a Doll
Vincent Persichetti, words by E.E. Cummings
Let My Love Be Heard
Jake Runestad, words by Alfred Noyes
We’re Goin’ Around from Treemonisha
Scott Joplin
Hannah Milam and Timothy Wilson, Soloists
A Real Slow Drag from Treemonisha
Scott Joplin
Hannah Milam and Althea D’Souza, Soloists
Allemande and Courante
William Kraft
Landon Stewart, Percussion
Ride the Chariot
Spiritual
Arranged by William Henry Smith
Noelle Stewart, Alexander Hall, Andre Ashby,
Haley Borjas, and Monica Wilberger, Soloists
Ride on King Jesus- King of Kings
Arranged by Hall Johnson
Andre Ashby, Tenor and Jim Martinez,
Piano
It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing
Duke Ellington, words by Irving Mills
Overview
Vincent Persichetti, born in Philadelphia in 1915, began his musical journey at a very young age with keyboard studies. He went on to study at Combs College of Music, Curtis Institute of Music, and the Philadelphia Conservatory, earning degrees from each. Persichetti was also an educator who taught at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music and Julliard School of Music. He was highly sought after as a composer, with some 100 commissions from prominent orchestras, dance companies, universities, and arts organizations.
Jake Runestad is a pianist, composer, and conductor based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Best known for choral works, he also composes opera, orchestral music, and wind ensemble. For Runestad, the duty of the composer is to find the music inherent in the text. The opening of “Let My Love Be Heard” is mostly homophonic, with a tenor solo section. At its apex, the female voices sing interwoven lines on “ah” creating a sense of “soaring.” The men repeatedly sing “let my love be heard” until reaching a fortissimo C# major seventh chord with a high-A natural in the tenor line.
“Treemonisha" is an opera by famed ragtime composer Scott Joplin (who died at age 49). The opera takes place in 1884 and concludes with a ragtime aria with chorus titled "A Real Slow Drag." In true operatic form, the work is represented by the heroine and educator Treemonisha, who runs into trouble with a local band of magicians. The musical style of the opera is early 20th century romantic, completely invested in Afrocentric folk song, dance, blues, spirituals, and call-and-response form. Joplin wanted to create a distinctive form of African-American opera while offering a message about social advancement and freedom through education. The opera was not performed in its entirety until 1972, after discovery of the piano score.
"Ride the Chariot" is a traditional spiritual that has been arranged for choral performance several times, most notably by William Henry Smith in 1939.
“It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)” is a composition by Duke Ellington, with lyrics by Irving Mills. Now a jazz standard, the music was written and arranged by Ellington in August 1931 during intermissions at Chicago's Lincoln Tavern. The song was likely the first to use the phrase "swing" in the title; it introduced the term into everyday language, predating the swing era by three years. The Ellington band played the song continually over the years and recorded it numerous times, most often with trumpeter Ray Nance as vocalist.