Despite his having moved to the United States with his family when he was 11 years old Robert Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943) was born in Canada where glimpses of his talent had already begun to manifest themselves at an early age. Among Dett's earliest titles was his Characteristic March Two-Step After the Cakewalk. Perhaps written when Dett was just a teenager this current edition is wholly based upon its original 1901 band publication that was arranged by Lee Orean Smith. Smith was also responsible for preparing Dett's piano solo version for publication as well as its form for theatre orchestra and mandolin club. Owing to the fact that Smith's highly idiomatic scoring wasprepared for a band of that period this edition adapts edits and extends Smith's instrumentation in order to make it possible for Dett's music to become available to a new generation of musicians and listeners alike. (Grade 4)

Listen To The Lambs was written in 1914 drawing its text from an older spiritual song I Want To Go To Heaven When I Die. It is arranged for eight-part mixed chorus and is known for the way it cleverly mixes passages of partial and full choir and thick and thin textures to create a poignant and moving work. Robert Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943) was an African-American Canadian composer and singer who fused together European classical styles with Negro spirituals and was comfortable with a wide range of repertoire. In 1914 he was working with the choir at the Hampton Institute in Hampton Virginia.