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"Dance of Gnomes" by Edward MacDowell

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In dramatic contrast to Cradle Song, the song Dance of Gnomes sets a text by MacDowell that is jarring, spooky, and humorous. The Gnomes, also called "Flower Fairies," conjure up shadows, moonlight, dark forests, and magic spells. Later in the work they call themselves "ugly, hairy imps," "ugly noddles" (noddle is the nape of the neck, back of the head), and "willful hussies." They also teach how true love conquers all. The poetry is syllabically set and calls for vibrant, robust declamation. This work is exuberant, tongue-in-cheek, and macabre.

Related Resources

• Dance of gnomes : op. 41, no. 2

"Deep River" by Harry Thacker Burleigh

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Burleigh's 1917 setting of Deep River for solo voice, published by G. Ricordi & Co., New York, is one of the composer's most beloved works. It was so well-received, it inspired the publication of nearly a dozen more spirituals the same year. In addition to the original versions for solo voice, men's chorus, and women's chorus, Deep River received transcriptions for string quartet, organ solo, violin solo, cello solo, and concert band.

This setting was not the first Deep River arrangement by Burleigh. In 1913, G. Schirmer published his arrangement for unaccompanied mixed chorus, followed in 1914 by versions for men's chorus and women's chorus. Although widely performed by choruses and still in print today, this earlier version never brought Burleigh widespread attention.

The SSA version of Deep River was arranged by Nathaniel Clifford Page (1866-1956), a composer who frequently created choral arrangements of Burleigh's works for publisher G. Ricordi. The arrangement retains Burleigh's original melody and piano accompaniment. As the tune is shared by the lower two voices, it is embellished with occasional sixteenth notes, imitating an improvised style. Harmonies are simple diatonic triads with occasional chromatic coloration.

Related Resources

• Deep river : song for three-part chorus women's voices piano accompaniment

"Dig My Grave," one of "Two Negro Spirituals" by Harry Thacker Burleigh

1913

In 1914, G. Schirmer published the collection Afro-American Folksongs, edited by scholar and music critic Henry E. Krehbiel (1854-1923). The collection included eleven spiritual arrangements for unison chorus by Burleigh. Dig My Grave was among those arrangements, in a section on funeral music. The four-part, unaccompanied arrangement was published in 1914 along with Deep River by G. Schirmer, New York.

The text and melody of Dig My Grave were taken from Bahama Songs and Stories by Charles L. Edwards. The opening is appropriately somber, marked Grave, and set for four-part men's voices: "Dig my grave long and narrow! Make my coffin long and strong!" At the tempo change to Andante cantabile, the women sing in parallel sixths while the men sustain an open-fifth pedal, "Bright angels to my feet, bright angels to my head, bring angels to carry me when I'm dead." That text paraphrases an old English prayer: "Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, guard the bed that I lie on. Four corners to my bed, four angels to my head, one to watch, one to pray, and two to bear my soul away." For the final phrase, the sopranos sing, piu mosso, "Oh my little soul gwine shine like a star." Choral homophony completes the setting, "Lord, I'm bound to Heaven at last."

Related Resources

• Two Negro spirituals

"Domine salvum fac praesidem nostrum, Op. 8" by John Knowles Paine

1915

John Knowles Paine composed Domine salvum fac praesidem nostrum soon after accepting a music-instructor position at Harvard University. Written for the inauguration ceremony of Thomas Hill as Harvard President, the work premiered on March 4, 1863. The composer conducted members of the college choir, the Harvard Music Association, and the Germania Orchestra. The piece was repeated on October 19, 1869, for the inauguration of Hill's successor, Charles William Eliot.

The Latin text translates "Lord, make safe our President [Protector], and hear us favorably on the day in which we call in respect." In Paine's setting this is followed by the Gloria Patri doxology.

The work begins with an orchestral introduction in the French Overture style, followed by a declarative choral statement of the opening line of text. The piece continues in ternary structure. The main theme is introduced by the chorus in m. 19, the middle section follows with a change of character and texture (solo quartet) in m. 43, and the original theme returns at the Gloria Patri in m. 87. Although largely forte and full-textured, the anthem includes several key moments of dynamic contrast and surprising a cappella choral phrases (mm. 27-28, mm. 55-60).

Domine salvum fac praesidem nostrum was published in 1915 by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, featuring a piano reduction of the orchestral score by Paine's student, Arthur Foote.

Related Resources

• Domine salvum fac praesidem nostrum : for chorus of men's voices and orchestra : op. 8

"Don't Be Weary, Traveler" by R. Nathaniel Dett

1921

R. Nathaniel Dett dedicated Don't Be Weary, Traveler to philanthropist and arts patron George Foster Peabody. It was published by the John Church Company, "The House Devoted to the Progress of American Music." The publisher included it in a series titled "Negro Spirituals. Folk Songs of the South, Adaptations of Original Melodies by R. Nathaniel Dett." The publication was issued in 1921, just one year after Dett's piece won the $100 Francis Boott Prize at Harvard University. The composer's serious intent is evident in the work's subtitle: "Motet, On a Negro Folk Song Motif."

Related Resources

• Don't be weary, traveler : motet on a negro folk song motif : for six-part unaccompanied chorus of mixed voices

"Done Paid My Vow to the Lord" by R. Nathaniel Dett

1919

Dett arranged Done Paid My Vow to the Lord for baritone or contralto solo, women voices, and piano in 1919. It was published that year by the John Church Company. The tune did not appear in his collection Religious Folk-Song of the Negro as Sung at the Hampton Institute (1927). Rather, the spiritual came from the collection of George Lake Imes, secretary of the Tuskegee Institute. Imes worked closely at the Institute with Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver. Dett notes in the subheading of his arrangement that this spiritual was much loved by Booker T. Washington.

Related Resources

• Done paid my vow to the Lord : negro spiritual for baritone or contralto solo and chorus of women's voices with accompaniment