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Description
SKU: A0.972673
Composed by James Siddons. Contemporary,Folk,Jazz,Spiritual. Score. 25 pages. James Siddons Music and Writings #6698569. Published by James Siddons Music and Writings (A0.972673).Performance Note
Sonata Hymnica No. 6 is scored for two pianos and three performers. One performer (or player) sits at Piano I and may also serve as the conductor. At Piano II, Performer 1 plays from the treble staff and Performer 2 plays from the bass staff. There are possible variations in this, such as having four pianos (two pianos doubling the other two), or having two performers at Piano I, with Performer 2 playing only the bass-staff rhythmic pattern that begins in measure 37. A standing conductor (not playing piano) may be desired.
Although repetitive, the music in this sonata rarely repeats itself exactly; hence, further minor improvisations by the performers are appropriate, keeping with the improvisatory nature of oral tradition.
Program Note (for use in concert programs)
by James Siddons
In his classic book The Souls of Black Folk (Chicago, 1903), W. E. B. Du Bois confesses to not being a musician but nonetheless finding himself enthralled by the music of the Southern 19th-century African Americans. He refers to their singing as "the Frenzy or ‘Shouting,’ when the Spirit of the Lord passed by, and seizing the devotee, made him mad with supernatural joy . . . stamping, shrieking, and shouting, the rushing to and fro and waving of arms, the weeping and laughing, the vision and the trance" (p. 116). On another page, Du Bois speaks of ". . . the songs of my fathers . . . swelling with song, instinct for life, tremendous treble and darkening bass" (p. 163).
Sonata Hymnica No. 6 uses the African call and response form as well as percussive polyrhythms.
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