MARGARET BONDS The Ballad of the Brown King & Selected Songs

Laquita Mitchell • Noah Stewart Lucia Bradford • Ashley Jackson The Dessoff Choirs & Orchestra Malcolm J. Merriweather MARGARET BONDS (1913–1972) The Ballad of the Brown King & Selected Songs

The Ballad of the Brown King (1960) 23.34 Libretto by (1902–1967)

Laquita Mitchell soprano (4,6,9) Lucia Bradford mezzo-soprano (9) Noah Stewart tenor (1,4,6)

1 Of the Three Wise Men 3.31 2 They Brought Fine Gifts 2.33 3 Sing Alleluia 0.46 4 Mary Had a Little Baby 2.45 5 Now When Jesus Was Born 2.09 6 Could He Have Been an Ethiope? 4.53 7 Oh, Sing of the King Who Was Tall and Brown 4.12 8 That Was a Christmas Long Ago 1.24 9 Alleluia 2.41

The Dessoff Choirs & Orchestra Malcolm J. Merriweather conductor

10 To a Brown Girl Dead (1956) 2.06 Text by (1903–1946)

11 Winter Moon (1936) 1.15 Text by Langston Hughes

Three Dream Portraits (1959) 7.00 Texts by Langston Hughes

12 Minstrel Man 2.20 13 Dream Variation 2.38 14 I, Too 2.02

Malcolm J. Merriweather baritone Ashley Jackson harp he lives and works of black female is an area of involved with local cultural organizations. From 1950-1958, T research that has only recently begun to receive the Bonds served as the chair of a concert series at the Community critical attention it has long deserved. Through the study Church of New York. While maintaining this position, in 1957 of these women and their works, we can begin to understand the she worked at the Cultural Council and helped organize unique relationships among history, race, gender, and art. The the Harlem Jazzmobile. In the 1960s, Bonds received a number of career of Margaret Bonds extended from the 1930s through the awards and honors for her accomplishments. In 1963, she was 1960s, a period in which the nation’s cultural and political land- listed on the Honor Roll of Outstanding Negro Women, and, in scapes were dramatically shaped by the Harlem Renaissance, the 1964, she was honored with a “Woman of the Century Award” as Renaissance, and the modern civil rights movement. well as the first of three ASCAP awards. On January 29, 1967, But Bonds was beyond her time. Her message of black pride was presented Bonds with an Alumni Merit bold, and with her music, she dreamed far beyond the narrow Award. Finally, at a concert of her works at Berean Baptist space defined as classical music. Church, a mayoral representative declared January 31, 1967 “Margaret Bonds Day” in Chicago. Margaret Allison Bonds was born on March 3, 1913, in the city of Chicago. Her parents were both well-established figures in the On May 22, 1967, her longtime friend and collaborator Langston black community and provided her with a nurturing environ- Hughes passed away in New York, and some scholars assert ment in which she could develop her musical talents. Her that at this point, she was ready to leave New York. With mother, Estella Bonds, was especially influential on her musical opportunities in , she left the city of her childhood upbringing: when Bonds was old enough, she would accompany dreams and moved to California. There she taught in her mother at the on Sunday mornings at Berean Baptist community music and musical theatre programs. While she Church. When she was just four years old, her parents divorced, enjoyed her work with the young students, she continued to but her mother’s house quickly became known as a gathering suffer from occasional mood changes and periods of depression. place for prominent black artists passing through the South Side When she moved to Los Angeles, these matters worsened. On of Chicago, including , who moved in April 26, 1972, she suddenly passed away. with the family during the 1920s. On June 15, 1933, she performed ’s On May 21, 1972, the performed In 1929, Bonds entered Northwestern University. While it gave Concertino with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Her debut excerpts of Bonds’ Credo, a work that she herself ranked among her opportunities to study piano and vocal composition with marked the first time that an African-American pianist was a her finest compositions. Despite the mysterious circumstances well-known teachers, it was also where she experienced her first soloist with the world-renowned ensemble. One year later, she surrounding her death, Bonds lived an enriching artistic life. She real taste of “Whites Only” discrimination. The school didn’t performed Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in D Minor with the approached the various phases and aspects of her career with provide housing for its black students, and black female students Women’s Symphony Orchestra of Chicago on a concert that was clear ambition and dedication, and her many accomplishments were prohibited from using the school’s swimming pool broadcast by CBS. as a black female composer during the dawn and height of the facilities. Bonds sought refuge in black art, and it was during this modern civil rights movement remain astounding. period that she was first introduced to the words of Langston In August of 1939, and with only $37 in her pocket, Bonds moved Hughes. Years later, towards the end of her life, she recalled, “It to Harlem, where she would live for the next three decades. Of One of the greatest challenges to learning about Bonds and her was in this prejudiced university, this terribly prejudiced her early days in New York, she admitted, “No job was too lousy; music is that the majority of her works remains unpublished. place…I was looking in the basement of the Evanston Public I played all sorts of gigs, wrote ensembles, played rehearsal Recordings are even fewer in number. With the new Library where they had the poetry. I came in contact with this music, and did any chief cook and bottle washer job just so I on this recording, Malcolm Merriweather and I wonderful poem, ‘The Negro Speaks of Rivers,’ and I’m sure it could be honest and do what I wanted.”2 As a performer, com- hope to bring her music to new audiences and encourage future helped my feelings of security. Because in that poem [Langston poser, and teacher, Bonds worked tirelessly. She was also a wife performances of pieces that meant a great deal to the composer. Hughes] tells how great the black man is. And if I had any and a mother. In the winter of 1939, Bonds met Lawrence The works on this recording cover a 30-year period. The earliest, misgivings, which I would have to have – here you are in a setup Richardson, a New York probation officer whom she would marry To a Brown Girl Dead, was first written in 1933, and then revised where the restaurants won’t serve you and you’re going to in the summer of 1940. Six years later, Bonds gave birth to her many years later in 1956: “Now this music I set when I was very college, you’re sacrificing, trying to get through school – and I only child, Djane. young – in my teens,” Bonds remembered. “I had a whole lot of know that poem helped save me.”1 movement in it. When we’re very young we overdo. Then in later Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Bonds stayed active in her years, I decided to use it as an experiment in economy. I pared Immediately following her Northwestern studies, Bonds main- community as an educator, and her pride in her African- down to write as little as I could write.”3 The Ballad of the Brown tained an active career as a performer, composer, and teacher. American musical heritage inspired her to become actively King was also revised, although over a much shorter period of time, from 1954 to 1960. New movements were added, and she King, Jr., the performance was held as a benefit for the Southern decided to orchestrate the original piano/vocal score. Bonds Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The Ballad of the Brown believed The Ballad of the Brown King would be her magnum opus, King possesses a character lighter than that of Bonds’ other the crowning achievement that highlighted her skills not only as Hughes settings, such as Winter Moon and Three Dream Portraits. A a vocal composer, as she was primarily known, but also as a unique composition among her oeuvre, the cantata incorporates composer who was equally at ease with writing for orchestra. the dramatic, Neo-Romantic style of her art songs with the charming simplicity of her spiritual arrangements, for which she This album also highlights Bonds’ settings of poetry by Langston is probably best known. Hughes (Winter Moon, Three Dream Portraits, and The Ballad of the Brown King). Towards the end of her life, Bonds recalled that she In the fall before the premiere, on September 22, 1960, Bonds and Hughes first crossed paths in the mid-1930s: “I actually met expressed to Hughes that her primary goal was to get a recording him … after I came out of the university. The first time I saw of “one good performance.”6 60 years later, that goal is finally Langston was at Tony’s house in Chicago, Tony Hill, the cerami- realized. The Ballad of the Brown King was written with a purpose. cist. Finally, he came to my house. My family rolled out the red As she stated, “It is a great mission to tell Negroes how great carpet. We were like brother and sister, like blood relatives.”4 they are.”7 Although inspired by the civil rights movement, the Over the years, she sent him melodies, requested lyrics, and told work’s message, which encourages all to embrace the “true him when she felt certain phrases did not suit her musical concept of Brotherhood toward people of color throughout the conception. They also gossiped, exchanged Christmas greetings, world,” remains one that is a poignant and relevant message for and offered each other words of advice and encouragement. As is audiences today.8 evident in their works that celebrate black beauty, Bonds and Hughes shared a mutual understanding of their roles as cultural © Ashley Jackson 2019 ambassadors for racial uplift. Langston Hughes, 1936

His lyrical language on poignant subjects inspired some of her 1. Margaret Bonds, interview by James Hatch, Inner City Cultural most eloquent compositions. The brief but haunting song Winter Center, Los Angeles, CA, December 28, 1971. Tape in the Division Moon was composed by the end of the summer of 1936 and later of Recorded Sound, Schomburg Center for Research in Black included in the four-movement song cycle Songs of the Seasons Culture, New York, NY. (1956). For the poems in Three Dream Portraits (1959), Bonds chose 2. Bonds quoted in Christina Demaitre, “She Has a Musical works from the 1932 collection The Dream Keeper and Other Poems. Mission: Developing Racial Harmony: Heritage Motivates Her selection of the three poems “Minstrel Man,” “Dream Composing Career,” Washington Post, August 14, 1964. Variation,” and “I, Too” reflects her commitment to challenging 3. Bonds quoted in Demaitre, 1964. negative perceptions of black identity, at a time when the civil rights movement was just beginning to gain national attention, 4. Margaret Bonds, interview with James Hatch. and equality was still very much a dream. 5. Margaret Bonds to Langston Hughes, December 20, 1964, Langston Hughes Papers, James Weldon Johnson Collection in The Ballad of the Brown King focuses on Balthazar, the dark- the Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book skinned king who journeyed to Bethlehem to witness the birth of and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT. Jesus Christ. First premiered in 1954, by 1960 The Ballad of the 6. Bonds to Hughes, September 22, 1960 in Helen Walker-Hill Brown King was revised, orchestrated, and dedicated to Martin Papers, Columbia College, Chicago, IL (hereafter cited as HWH Luther King, Jr. By establishing the dark-skinned king as a cen- Papers). tral character in the Christmas narrative, Bonds and Hughes 7. Bonds to Hughes, November 4, 1960, HWH Papers. radically gave “the dark youth of America a cantata which makes 8. Sanctuary Choir of The Church of Christian Fellowship 5 them proud to sing.” The world premiere of the revised and Concert Program, Los Angeles, CA, December 24, 1961, Margaret extended The Ballad of the Brown King took place on December 11, Bonds Collection, Special Collections Research Center, Lauinger 1960 at the Clark Auditorium in the YMCA on 50th Street and 8th Library, , Washington, DC. Avenue in . Theodore Stemp led the Westminster Choir of the Church of the Master, while Bonds conducted the New York City College Orchestra. Dedicated to Martin Luther The Ballad of the Brown King (1954) by Langston Hughes (1902–1967)

5. Now When Jesus Was Born 7. Oh, Sing of the King Who Was Tall and Brown 1. Of the Three Wise Men Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem Oh sing of the king who was tall and brown Of the three wise men who came to the King In the days of Herod the King Crossing the desert from a distant town One was a brown man so they sing Behold there came wise men from the East Crossing the desert on a caravan Alleluia, Alleluia saying His gifts to bring from a distant land “Where is He that is born?” His gifts to bring from a palm tree land Of the three wise men who followed the star Across the sand by caravan One was a brown king from afar For we have seen his star in the East With a single star to guide his way to Alleluia, Alleluia Bethlehem, To Bethlehem where the Christ child lay 6. Could He Have Been an Ethiope? 2. They Brought Fine Gifts Could he have been an Ethiope Oh sing of the king who was tall and brown They brought fine gifts of silver and gold From an Ethiopian land? And the other kings that this king found In jeweled boxes of beauty untold I do not know just who he was Who came to put their presents down Unto his humble manger they came But he was a kingly man In a lowly manger in Bethlehem town And bowed their heads in Jesus’ name Where the King of kings a babe was found Could he have been an Egyptian king The King of kings a babe was found From the land where the sun shines bright? Three kings who came to the King of kings 3. Sing Alleluia I do not know just who he was And one was tall and brown Sing Alleluia to our King But he followed the star that night

Could he have been a tall, dark king? 4. Mary Had a Little Baby Maybe Arabian? 8. That Was a Christmas Long Ago Mary had a little baby I do not know just who he was That was a Christmas long ago Jesus that was His name But he was a wise, wise man When the three wise men bowed so low All the world became much brighter The three wise men who followed the star when little Jesus, the Christ child came Of all the kings who came to call One was a brown man from afar One was dark like me The three wise men who came to the king That was in a lowly manger, And I’m so glad that he was there One was a brown man so they sing Outside the night was cold Our little Christ to see But within that lowly manger Behold how warm His love is; oh, behold! 9. Alleluia Alleluia, Christ the King Mary had a little baby, Alleluia, praise his name In the night a bright star shone Alleluia, they did sing I, so lost, so lost and lonely Alleluia, Christ the King Nevermore shall be alone A Brown Girl Dead (1925) Three Dream Portraits I, Too (1925) The Dream Keeper by Countee Cullen (1903–1946) from (1932) by Langston Hughes I, too, sing America. With two white roses on her breasts, White candles at head and feet, I am the darker brother. Dark Madonna of the grave she rests; Minstrel Man (1925) They send me to eat in the kitchen Lord Death has found her sweet. When company comes, Because my mouth But I laugh, Her mother pawned her wedding ring Is wide with laughter And eat well, To lay her out in white; And my throat And grow strong. She’d be so proud she’d dance and sing Is deep with song, To see herself tonight. You do not think Tomorrow, I suffer after I’ll sit at the table I have held my pain When company comes. So long? Nobody’ll dare Winter Moon (1923) Say to me, by Langston Hughes Because my mouth “Eat in the kitchen,” Is wide with laughter, Then. How thin and sharp is the moon tonight! You do not hear How thin and sharp and ghostly white My inner cry? Besides, Is the slim curved crook of the moon tonight! Because my feet They’ll see how beautiful I am Are gay with dancing, And be ashamed – You do not know I die? I, too, am America.

Dream Variation (1924)

To fling my arms wide In some place of the sun, To whirl and to dance Till the white day is done. Then rest at cool evening Beneath a tall tree While night comes on gently, Dark like me – That is my dream!

To fling my arms wide In the face of the sun, Dance! Whirl! Whirl! Till the quick day is done. Rest at pale evening . . . A tall, slim tree . . . Night coming tenderly Black like me. MALCOLM J. MERRIWEATHER Meet the Artists Conductor and baritone Malcolm J. Merriweather is the ninth Music Director of The Dessoff Choirs. He is also an Assistant Professor, Director of Choral Studies and Voice Department Coordinator at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York; Artist in Residence at Union Theological Seminary; and Artistic Director of Voices of Haiti, a 60-member children’s choir in Port-au- Prince, Haiti operated by the Andrea Bocelli Foundation.

Merriweather has conducted ensembles in , Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, Westminster Abbey, and at the Vatican before Pope Francis. His repertoire ranges THE DESSOFF CHOIRS from J.S. Bach to world premieres of contemporary music by Eve Beglarian and Matthew Aucoin. The Dessoff Choirs is one of New York City’s leading choruses. Founded in 1924 by Margarete Dessoff, the group has a Merriweather has also been featured as a baritone soloist reputation for pioneering performances of choral works from throughout the United States. He has premiered contemporary the pre-Baroque era through the 21st century. The plural “s” in solo works by Eve Beglarian, John Liberatore, Ju Ri Seo, Douglas Choirs connotes the group’s 40-voice core heard on this record- Fisk, and James Adler. He received fellowships at the Norfolk ing, plus the Symphonic Choir assembled for larger collaborative Chamber Music Festival and at the Tanglewood Music Center. engagements and a smaller Chamber Choir selected for more intimate works. Dr. Merriweather has earned degrees from the Eastman School LAQUITA MITCHELL of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and Syracuse University Dessoff produces its own New York concert series each year, and, (summa cum laude). Soprano Laquita Mitchell consistently earns acclaim on eminent over its 95 seasons, has presented numerous world premieres, international opera and concert stages, including performances including works by Virgil Thomson, George Perle, Paul Moravec, Please visit www.malcolmjmerriweather.com for more information. with Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Washington David Hurd, Ricky Ian Gordon, Eve Beglarian, and Matthew Connect with him on Twitter and Instagram @maestroweather. National Opera, Opéra Comique in Paris, and the New York Aucoin. Dessoff also collaborates frequently with local and Philharmonic, to name a few. Notable engagements include Bess visiting ensembles, including appearances in the American in Porgy and Bess with San Francisco Opera, Margaret Island premieres of Philip Glass’ Symphony No. 5 and Sir John Tavener’s Open-Air Theatre in Budapest, and the Polish Chamber all-night vigil, The Veil of the Temple. In recent seasons, Philharmonic Orchestra; Violetta in La traviata with New York engagements have ranged from ’s final perform- City Opera and Opera Memphis; Coretta Scott King in I Dream ances as music director of the , in with Opera Grand Rapids and Opera Carolina; and Donna Anna Britten’s War Requiem and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, to an East in Don Giovanni with Florentine Opera and Portland Opera. Coast tour with British rock star Ray Davies.

As an active concert artist, Ms. Mitchell has sung in the world In the mid-20th century, Dessoff published 48 editions of the premiere of Paul Moravec’s Sanctuary Road at Carnegie Hall, Dessoff Choir Series and released 13 LPs that helped introduce Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Renaissance music to the U.S. audience. and in the world premiere of composer Steven Stucky’s August 4, 1964 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Mitchell is a MARGARET BONDS: The Ballad of the Brown King & Selected Songs is Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Grand Prize Dessoff’s third commercial recording of American music. Winner. Previous releases were Reflections (1999), featuring works by Robert Convery, , Paul Moravec, and , and Glories on Glories (2009), a live recording of American song ranging from Billings to Ives. Dessoff can also be heard with the New York Philharmonic in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, available on iTunes. For more information, please visit dessoff.org. NOAH STEWART

Tenor Noah Stewart is a frequent guest artist with major opera companies and in concert halls around the world. His musical development started in Harlem, where he studied classical music at The Harlem School of the Arts. When he was 12 years old, his choir teacher encouraged him to pursue a musical career. He began doing voice-overs for Sesame Street and television specials, and won first place in the New England Music Competition in Boston. He went on to study at The in New York.

Mr. Stewart’s debut album for DECCA, Noah, became a major success in the United Kingdom. Noted opera engagements include B.F. Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and Hassan in Judith Wier’s Miss Fortune, both at Covent Garden; Faust at Atlanta Opera; A Flowering Tree by John Adams at Chicago Opera Theater and in Lisbon; Tosca and Nabucco for Michigan Opera Theatre; Don José in David McVicar’s acclaimed production of Carmen at Göteborg Opera; Tosca at Ries Opera; Osaka in Iris at Opera Holland Park; and Peter Sellars’ acclaimed production of Purcell’s Indian Queen at the Bolshoi Opera, Teatro Real Madrid, and Perm Opera. LUCIA BRADFORD ASHLEY JACKSON

Mezzo-soprano Lucia Bradford has performed a number of Praised for her rhythmic precision and dynamic range, harpist operatic roles, including Carmen in Bizet’s La Tragedie de Dr. Ashley Jackson enjoys a multifaceted career as a highly Carmen, Zita in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, La Principessa in sought-after musician and collaborator in New York and beyond. Puccini’s Suor Angelica, The Mother in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les She has appeared on stages in New York and around the world sortilèges, Mercedes in Bizet’s Carmen, Mrs. Quickly in Verdi’s including Avery Fisher Hall, Park Avenue Armory, Royal Opera Falstaff, The Sorceress in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Gertrude in House in Muscat, Oman, and the National Center for the Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet, Hippolyta in Britten’s A Midsummer Performing Arts in Beijing, China. Night’s Dream, Miss Todd in Menotti’s The Old Maid and the Thief, the Duchess of Plaza-Toro in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Throughout her academic and professional careers, she has Gondoliers, Azelia Dessalines in William Grant Still’s Troubled demonstrated a commitment to diversity and inclusion within Island, and Maria in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. higher education and the performing arts. Her speaking engage- ments have included “Affinities: Margaret Bonds and Langston Her concert works include Mozart’s Vesperae solennes Hughes” (Studio Museum of Harlem) and “Representation as de Confessore, Hadyn’s Lord Nelson Mass, De Falla’s El amor Brujo, Resistance: How an Activist Orchestra Redresses the Push-out of William Grant Still’s And they lynched him, and Mozart’s Requiem. Black Practitioners from Classical Music” (Harvard University). As a writer, her works have appeared on NewMusicBox as well as A native of Brooklyn, Ms. Bradford has had the privilege of in the International Journal of Women in Music. She holds degrees singing at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, and Philadelphia’s from Yale University (BA, MM) and The Juilliard School (DMA), Kimmel Center, as well as touring in Russia, Budapest, Spain, the where her research on Bonds was the subject of her dissertation, Caribbean, and throughout the United States. “Margaret Bonds and The Ballad of the Brown King: An Historical Overview and Analysis.”

Learn more at ashleyjacksonharp.com. Soprano Board of Directors Jessie Barbour President Tansal Arnas Jenness Crawford Vice-President Diana S. Young Angelica Crane Dosik Treasurer Christopher M. Platt Christina H. Fairweather Secretary Erika Rohrbach Isabel Koo Directors-at-Large Jessie Barbour, Sandy MacDonald Lisa Grow, Michael Jorrin, Francis Menton, Erika Rohrbach Steven D. Stellman, Steven A. Winn Kathryne Prost Singleton Katherine Fox Wolf Diana S. Young Orchestra Alto Nancy DeVore Violin I Catherine Douglass Kelly Hall-Tompkins concertmaster Lisa Grow Yuko Naito-Gotay Elizabeth Hollander Adda Kridler Martha Hollander Matthew Lehmann The Dessoff Choirs Amanda Kelly Paola Nuñez del Prado Violin II Malcolm J. Merriweather Music Director Christina Peter Hiroko Taguchi Michael Herring Managing Director Julie Reust Jason Mellow Steven Ryan Accompanist Barbara Scharf Schamest Deborah Song Darcy Smith Jessica Park Cyndee Socci Viola Jocelin Pan Tenor Todd Low Tansal Arnas Cello Steven N. Brautigam Mitch Lyon Christopher Ebert Peter Sachon Steve Kass Noah Magnus Double Bass Benjamin Martin Mike Kuennen Chris Miller Emerson Sieverts Harp Steven D. Stellman Ashley Jackson Andrew Willett Organ Bass Nathaniel Gumbs William Bodenlos Joe Damon Chappel Richard Hadsell Eric Hansen Francis Menton Ryan Mesina Ian Milliken Christopher M. Platt John Stolen Steven A. Winn The Ballad of the Brown King (1960) arranged by Malcolm J. The Dessoff Choirs is supported, in part, by public funds from Merriweather for strings, harp & organ (2018). Tracks 1-9 the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partner- recorded at James Memorial Chapel, Union Theological ship with the City Council. Seminary, New York City, on November 30 and December 1, 2018.

Tracks 10-14 recorded at Skinner Hall, Vassar College, The Dessoff Choirs is supported, in part, by the New York State Poughkeepsie, NY, on February 16, 2019. Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Executive Producer Malcolm J. Merriweather Recording producer, engineering, editing, & mastering Marlan Barry Recording Committee Chair Steven A. Winn Liner Note Editor Erika Rohrbach Design & layout Hugh O’Donnell This recording was supported by New Music USA, made possible by annual program support and/or endowment gifts from Mary Portrait of Margaret Bonds (cover). Photograph taken October Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, New York City Department of 10, 1956 by Carl Van Vechten (1880–1964). Cultural Affairs, Helen F. Whitaker Fund, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc., New York State Council on the Arts. Portrait of Langston Hughes (back cover). Photograph taken February 29, 1936 by Carl Van Vechten.

Girolamo da Santacroce - The Adoration of the Three Kings - The Dessoff Choirs Walters 37261 - Detail A between circa 1525 and circa 1530, oil P.O. Box 1337 on panel. Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti New York, NY 10028 Collection, 1902. [email protected] www.dessoff.org “A Brown Girl Dead” by Countee Cullen. Copyright owned by Amistad Research Center, New Orleans, LA. Licensing Marketed by Avie Records administered by Thompson and Thompson. www.avie-records.com

Langston Hughes: “Minstrel Man,” “Dream Variation.” “I, Too,” and “Winter Moon” - Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates. Copyright 1994 by the Langston Hughes Estate.

Special thanks to Union Theological Seminary, Vassar College Music Department, Barbara Scharf Schamest, Tansal Arnas, Ian Milliken, and Miriam Lewin. Recording at James Memorial Chapel, New York City, 2018.