New Underground Railroad, The

SKU: PR.411411690

UPC: 680160686032.

The four name arias in HARRIET TUBMAN: When I crossed that Line To Freedom, portray stages in the title character's transformation from slave to freedom-fighter. First, as a child, she introduces herself as Araminta, who is often called, Minty. Her naive prattlings establish a dramatic contrast between childhood's contentment and the harsh realities of slave existence. My name is Harriet, now. Don't call me Minty any more, declares the teenaged heroine. Having survived a series of abusive masters and a debilitating injury, she asserts her rites of womanhood through the shedding of her childhood moniker. The grown Harriet Tubman reintroduces herself as a free woman, recounting the harrowing tale of escape from slavery. Confronted by bittersweet poignancy at having crossed the line to freedom without family to welcome her, she is inspired towards a new goal: returning home to rescue loved ones. In the final aria, Tubman, a seasoned conductor on the Underground Railroad, embraces the folkloric title given to her by escapees and aspiring runaways. I am 'Moses, the Liberator,' she proclaims. Her transformation is complete.
The four “name” arias in HARRIET TUBMAN: When I crossed thatLine To Freedom, portray stages in the title character's transformationfrom slave to freedom-fighter.First, as a child, she introduces herself as “Araminta,” who is oftencalled, “Minty.” Her naïve prattlings establish a dramatic contrastbetween childhood's contentment and the harsh realities of slaveexistence.“My name is Harriet, now. Don't call me Minty any more,” declares theteenaged heroine. Having survived a series of abusive masters and adebilitating injury, she asserts her rites of womanhood through theshedding of her childhood moniker.The grown Harriet Tubman reintroduces herself as a free woman,recounting the harrowing tale of escape from slavery. Confronted bybittersweet poignancy at having crossed the line to freedom withoutfamily to welcome her, she is inspired towards a new goal: returninghome to rescue loved ones.In the final aria, Tubman, a seasoned conductor on the UndergroundRailroad, embraces the folkloric title given to her by escapees andaspiring runaways. “I am 'Moses, the Liberator,'” she proclaims. Hertransformation is complete.

SKU: HL.302555

UPC: 888680967307. 5.0x5.0x0.198 inches.

This time-honored spiritual is said to have contained coded messages for slaves wishing to escape through the Underground Railroad. Complementing the divine and collective nature of the piece are fully realized hand and body percussion parts; the song ending with a hushed whisper.

SKU: PR.140401330

ISBN 9781491134412. UPC: 680160684939.

Nathaniel Dett was among America’s leading composers in the early 20th century, and MAGNOLIA SUITE is a beautiful example of his rich, hybrid style. Deeply inspired by the music and mission of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Dett’s piano music springs from the late Romantic traditions of florid texture and embellishment, along with programmatic titles and raw emotion. It is notable for melody writing inspired by and paraphrasing African-American song. The 18-minute MAGNOLIA SUITE contains five movements, any of which may also be performed separately. This edition by Lara Downes provides a clean, new engraving that corrects the many errors and unclear indications appearing in the historical printing.
Robert Nathaniel Dett was born in a place that was built on freedom. The little village of Drummondville, Ontario was founded by enslaved Africans – Dett’s ancestors among them – who traveled the Underground Railroad out of the American South into Canada. Their journey brought them to a safe haven, a place where fortunes and futures could be transformed in the span of one generation, to lives full of new possibilities. You could call it “the place where the rainbow ends,” which is the title of the last movement of Dett’s Magnolia Suite.When Dett wrote these pieces, he was a young teacher at Lane College in Tennessee, a historically Black college that had been founded in 1882, the year of his birth. A place built on freedom, with the purpose of educating newly-emancipated slaves – a place designed to nurture the blossoming of ideas, the vibrant flowering of minds set free. This music is inspired by the gorgeous splendor of the magnolia blooms on that college campus, and also by the shared histories, experiences, and aspirations of the community that Dett found there.These five pieces pay affectionate tribute to lineage and legacy. They express gratitude for the bittersweet beauties of the present; nostalgia for the past (a bit romanticized, as the past always is); and an effervescent optimism for the future that awaits us in the place where the rainbow ends.