Okpebholo TWO BLACK CHURCHES for Baritone and orchestra

shawn e okpebholo

Two Black Churches

song set for baritone and orchestra on the 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing 16th Street Baptist Church and the 2015 Charleston Church Shooting Mother Emanuel AME Church

I. Ballad of Birmingham

Dudley Randall

II. The Rain Marcus Amaker

Two Black Churches (for baritone soloist and orchestra) was co-commissioned by The Lexington Philharmonic, Mélisse Brunet, Music Director, and supported by the Saykaly Garbulinska Composer-in-Residence Program.

Two Black Churches was also composed for the Oakland Symphony, Kedrick Armstrong, Music Director, in honor of Michael Morgan, Music Director Laureate. This was made possible through an initiative led by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the San Francisco Symphony aimed at commissioning Black American composers, and the generous support of Laurence and Michèle Corash.

Performance Notes: 1. Percussion Map

Instrumentation

Flute 1

Flute 2 / Piccolo

Oboe 1

Oboe 2 / English Horn

Clarinet in B♭ 1

Clarinet in B♭ 2

Bass Clarinet

Bassoon 1

Bassoon 2

Horn in F 1

Horn in F 2

Horn in F 3

Trumpet in C 1

Trumpet in C 2

Trombone 1

Trombone 2

Bass Trombone

Tuba

Timpani

Percussion 1

Brake Drum, Chimes, Glockenspiel, Marimba, Toms (4), Slap Stick (large), Vibraphone

Percussion 2

Bass Drum, Hi-Hat (with set), Snare Drum, Sus. Cymbal (Crash), Tam-Tam, Triangle Drum Set [Hi-Hat Pedal, Bass, Tom, Snare, Ride, Crash (Sus. Cymbal]

Harp

Piano/Celesta

Baritone Soloist

Violin I

Violin II

Viola

Violincello

Bass

2. Accidentals at the specific octave carry through the measure in which they occur, even in sections with extensive chromaticism where cautionary accidentals are provided.

3. Assume divisi in the strings unless notated otherwise.

4. Grace notes should be executed quickly and placed before the beat.

5. Trilled notes should be a half step above the original note.

6. In the second movement, The Rain, from the beginning to rehearsal letter A, maintain a sense of freedom despite the presence of clearly notated meter. This directive also applies to rehearsal B, where the conductor is advised to cue each whole note chord, adopting the same approach at F and G. Beginning at rehearsal letter C and the return at J, ensure that the phrasing covers a span of nine quarter notes. This holds true even though the meter is divided into various nine-quarter note subsections, such as [4/4 + 3/4 + 2/2] or [3/4 + 3/4 + 3/4] or [3/4 + 6/4], etc.

7. Subtle amplification for the baritone soloist is encouraged if needed.

Transposed Score

Duration: 17’

Program Note:

Two Black Churches is a song set in two movements for a baritone soloist and orchestra, composed by Shawn E. Okpebholo. It serves as an evocative reflection on two tragic atrocities perpetrated by white supremacists in two separate Black churches over five decades apart:

• The 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, which claimed the lives of four young girls.

• The 2015 Mother Emanuel AME Church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, resulting in the loss of nine congregants.

The first movement draws its text from Dudley Randall's poem, Ballad of Birmingham. This poem is a narrative account of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing as seen through the eyes of a mother of one of the victims, her young daughter, and a narrator. Stylistically, this movement blends elements of contemporary art song with the soulful spirit of 1960s Black gospel music. This movement incorporates subtle musical references, including the civil rights anthem We Shall Overcome and a universal hymn of the Church, Amazing Grace. While the composition loosely follows the poem's strophic-like structure, it also conveys a rhapsodic and weighty tone.

The second movement is a setting of the poem The Rain by Marcus Amaker, Charleston, South Carolina’s poet laureate. This poem was specially composed for this piece and serves as a poignant reflection on the racially motivated shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, a coastal city often beset by floods. The Rain is as a powerful metaphor for racism and the enduring struggle of Black people in Americans to remain afloat amidst the flood of injustice and the weight of oppression. The foundation of this work is a recurring nine-chord harmonic progression, one of several symbolic elements representing the nine lives lost on that fateful day. The hymn ‘Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus, sung during the first church service at Mother Emanuel after the shooting, is referenced in this movement, bearing testimony to a community that chose faith and hope over hate and fear.

Two Black Churches, first composed for baritone and piano, was originally commissioned by baritone Will Liverman, also featuring pianist Paul Sánchez. This orchestration was later co-commissioned by the Lexington Philharmonic during Okpebholo's tenure as the Saykaly Garbulinska Composer-in-Residence. This work was also supported by an initiative aimed at commissioning Black American composers, spearheaded by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the San Francisco Symphony for the Oakland Symphony in honor of Michael Morgan, Music Director Laureate

Poems:

Ballad of Birmingham

By Dudley Randall

(On the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963)

“Mother dear, may I go downtown Instead of out to play, And march the streets of Birmingham In a Freedom March today?”

“No, baby, no, you may not go, For the dogs are fierce and wild, And clubs and hoses, guns and jails Aren’t good for a little child.”

“But, mother, I won’t be alone. Other children will go with me, And march the streets of Birmingham To make our country free.”

“No, baby, no, you may not go, For I fear those guns will fire. But you may go to church instead And sing in the children’s choir.”

She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair, And bathed rose petal sweet, And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands, And white shoes on her feet.

The mother smiled to know her child Was in the sacred place, But that smile was the last smile To come upon her face.

For when she heard the explosion, Her eyes grew wet and wild.

She raced through the streets of Birmingham Calling for her child.

She clawed through bits of glass and brick, Then lifted out a shoe.

“O, here’s the shoe my baby wore, But, baby, where are you?

When the reality of racism returns, all joy treads water in oceans of buried emotion.

Charleston is doing everything it can to only swim in a colorless liquid of calm sea and blind faith.

But the Lowcountry is a terrain of ancient tears, suffocating through floods of segregation.

When a murderer’s gunshots made waves at Emanuel AME Church, we closed our eyes, held our breath and went under.

And we are still trying not to taste the salt of our surrounding blues or face the rising tide of black pain.

* Both poems used with permission.

The Rain By Marcus Amaker, Charleston, SC Poet Laureate

Two Black Churches is dedicated to the four girls who lost their lives in the 1963 Birmingham church bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church.

Addie Mae Collins (age 14)

Carol Denise McNair (age 11)

Carole Robertson (age 14)

Cynthia Wesley (age 14)

Two Black Churches is also dedicated to the nine men and women who lost their lives in the 2015 Charleston church shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church.

Sharonda Coleman-Singleton (age 45)

Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd (age 54)

Susie Jackson (age 87)

Ethel Lee Lance (age 70)

Depayne Middleton-Doctor (age 49)

Clementa C. Pinckney (age 41)

Tywanza Sanders (age 26)

Daniel L. Simmons (age 74)

Myra Thompson (age 59)

© Yellow Einstein Press, 2024

II. The Rain